Florida mother left her baby, toddler and two other children home alone while she went on a three-day cruise, officials say

A Florida woman was arrested and accused of leaving her four minor children, including a baby, alone while she went on a weekend cruise, police say.

The suspect, Nathalie Belizaire, 29, of North Miami Beach, is charged with four counts of child neglect without serious bodily injury.

Bélizaire’s lawyer denied the allegations.

According to North Miami Beach police, the father of one of Belizaire’s children, 2 months old, had seen on his WhatsApp story Thursday “depicting what appeared to be a cruise ticket purchase.”

That day, he spoke to Bélizaire, who told him she would drop the children off at their great-grandmother’s house, police said.

But when he went to his apartment Saturday night, he saw the television on through the blinds and heard the children talking inside, leading him to call 911, an arrest report states.

Miami-Dade police and firefighters responded and forced entry into the residence.

There, “the four minor children were discovered inside (…) without adult supervision and were hiding together in the toilet,” police said.

Body camera video shows officers rounding up the children and leading them outside.

When authorities spoke to the children’s great-grandmother, she said Bélizaire told her “she would drop the kids off because she was going out of town” but never brought them.

Bélizaire’s brother also told police that around 8 p.m. Saturday, his sister sent him a text message “asking him to watch his children.”

Police said their multiple attempts to contact Bélizaire were unsuccessful.

An investigation revealed that Bélizaire had purchased a three-day ticket to the Bahamas aboard the Carnival Conquest with a departure date of September 25.

Bélizaire “left the four minor children, including a two-month-old infant and a two-year-old child, inside the residence without adult supervision while the defendant traveled out of town on a Carnival Conquest cruise ship,” the arrest report states.

On Monday, authorities were waiting for Belizaire to disembark at PortMiami, where she was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and then turned over to North Miami Beach police.

Authorities said she refused to provide a statement and invoked her right to remain silent.

“Based on the totality of the circumstances and the evidence obtained during the investigation, sufficient probable cause existed to establish that the defendant failed to provide necessary care and supervision to the four minor children, thereby placing them at substantial risk of harm,” the arrest report states.

Belizaire appeared in bond court Tuesday, where his bond was set at $10,000 and he was asked to stay away from children.

“You can’t make this up. It says she went on a cruise and left her kids home alone,” Judge Mindy Glazer said during the hearing. “These poor children, four of them, were left home alone for three days. … I’m just grateful that nothing worse happened to these children.”

Bélizaire’s lawyer said she denies the allegations.

“Of course she does,” Glazer replied. “A baby, the baby was born in July this year. Who leaves a baby alone like this?”

Authorities said the children were safe and in foster care.