A man and woman from Gainesville are both facing charges after they allegedly abandoned their children Friday evening.
According to a release from the Hall County Sheriff's Office, Eric David Laas, 43, and Christal Faye Smith, 36, allegedly left their two girls, ages four and five, with an individual Friday night and did not return.
Deputies first learned of the incident at 8:45 a.m. Saturday when they responded to a call at a home in the 7,000 block of Ironwood Drive regarding a missing persons report. The release stated the children had been left with the caller.
After obtaining arrest warrants, deputies found Smith in the Hall County Jail where she was being held after she was arrested Saturday by a neighboring law enforcement agency. Deputies arrested Laas on Sunday after he returned to the home where the children were left.
Laas and Smith are facing two counts each of second-degree cruelty to children and abandonment of a child in the case. The cruelty to children charges relate to the girls' untreated insect bites and advanced tooth decay.
Laas and Smith remained in the Hall County Jail as of Monday afternoon.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2021/8/1029319/gainesville-couple-arrested-on-child-cruelty-and-abandonment-charges