Irene Miller, 50, has been released from jail after her four children were found alone for five days while she worked in Las Vegas.
The Kissimmee photographer was arrested Friday and booked into Orange County Jail on four counts of third-degree felony child endangerment without bodily harm, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. She posted $4,000 surety bond and was released Saturday. Her next court date was not immediately clear.
The case erupted when her unattended children — aged 9, 11, 12, and 14 — called 911 last week after the youngest was injured by a dumbbell in their home, deputies said. Miller later told investigators that a babysitter had checked on the kids before and after school each day she was away.
Florida law does not specify any minimum age at which a child can legally be left alone. Federal guidelines recommend against leaving children under 12 unsupervised and caution against having children under 15 supervise younger siblings.
Miami-based family lawyer Evan Marks told The Post that Miller’s arrangement crossed a clear line regardless of the statutory gray area.
“You obviously can’t be leaving four young children alone for hours and overnight for days on end … that is classis neglect,” Marks said.
“Those children were definitely abandoned … and the state has an interest in making sure that those kinds of circumstances do not happen — because they’re a recipe for disaster,” he added.
Each felony count against Miller carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, meaning she faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted on all charges. The charges stem from a Florida statute covering a caregiver’s “willful failure or omission to provide necessary care, supervision, food, shelter, or medical services, or failure to protect a child from harm,” said family lawyer John Lambros, who practices in Florida, New York and Massachusetts.
The state Department of Children and Families will “undoubtedly” conduct an extensive review of the children’s overall welfare, Lambros added.
The criminal case also threatens to derail Miller’s pending divorce from her husband, Mark Miller, 53, who has his own recent history with law enforcement. The father was charged with criminal battery in August after allegedly smacking his wife’s phone out of her hand during a heated argument outside the children’s school, according to a police report. A restraining order was issued, with a court hearing required to determine whether he could have contact with the children.
Despite that pending hearing, Mark Miller agreed to take the children home Friday — the same day his wife was arrested upon returning to Florida from her trip.
The amount of time Irene Miller will be allowed to spend with her kids and her level of parental responsibility could become “suspended, supervised or progressively developed,” Lambros said.
The case has ignited sharp disagreement online about modern parenting standards and when children can reasonably be left without adult supervision. Some social media users defended Miller’s arrangement, noting the children’s ages and the reported babysitter check-ins.
“I feel like I’m a pretty helicopterY [sic] parent, yet I don’t see a problem with this,” one Facebook user wrote Tuesday. “The children had an adult check they got TO school, and HOME from school…I have a 14 year old that I trust 100% to fly solo and also be a voice of reason to her brothers. They have phones to call for help. I wouldn’t call it neglectful or dangerous.”
Another commenter echoed that sentiment: “I don’t get this. … Many 14 yr olds [sic] are very mature. As for the accident with the dumbbell, that could happen even with the parents are home [sic]! And it appears that the one juvenile did the absolute best thing when the sibling was injured … by calling 911.”
Others were unsparing in their criticism of Miller’s decision to travel across the country while leaving her children behind.
“As a mom of two boys, I can’t imagine boarding a plane without knowing my kids were safe and cared for. If this is true, those four children deserve so much better. Praying they’re in good hands now,” one woman wrote on X.