Mom: Son, 5, left alone outside TPS elementary - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

A Toledo mom says her 5-year-old son was left unattended outside his elementary school. Another parent claims she saw the kindergartner crying for help.

That parent says the little boy was outside alone for 15 minutes. She says, when he began to cry, she decided to approach him.

5-year-old Armando Contreras is a kindergartner at Oakdale Elementary. On Thursday he got in trouble at school, so his teacher placed him in another classroom with a different teacher.

His mom says, when that class went outside for recess, he was left on the playground alone.

"It was very scary, because he's 5 years old," says Armando's mom, Marybel Contreras. "He sat there crying, and he was really scared.'

Cassandra Bunce says she noticed Armando as she was waiting to pick up her daughter at 2:45.

"I know for sure it was 15 minutes. I stood there watching before I went up to the school," she says. "But even a second, I don't care how long it was. These are our children left out here alone with nobody watching them."

To make matters worse, a piece of the gate that protects the play area is missing.

A spokesperson for TPS acknowledges that the kindergartener was left outside during recess, but says it was only for a minute before the teacher noticed and brought him back in.

The school does have cameras, and Marybel asked to see the footage so she could see how long her son was outside alone, but she says she was told by the principal that the cameras were not working properly.

"If someone were to come and take him, they wouldn't even know what happened," she says.

Marybel says she's pulling her son out of Oakdale.

"He doesn't want to go back. He's afraid they are going to leave him outside," she says. "He's scared."