10/31/2026
What do you think?
Is this neglect?
Irene Miller, a professional photographer based just outside Disney World in Florida, went to Las Vegas for work this month, leaving her four children at home. The oldest is 14, the youngest 9.
She was divorcing their father, who did not live with them at their home in Kissimmee, Fla., so she hired a babysitter to get the children ready for school in the mornings and to check on them after school. Otherwise, they were by themselves for several days.
Three days after she left, one of her older children called 911: A dumbbell had fallen on the 9-year-old boy’s head, according to an account by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
When Ms. Miller, 50, got off her plane in Florida last Friday, sheriff’s deputies were there to meet her.
The sheriff’s office released the body-cam footage with the tabloid-worthy headline, “4 CHILDREN. 4 DAYS. LEFT HOME ALONE.” The video showed Ms. Miller, in a tan suit and a white scarf, pulling her suitcase down the tunnel, escorted by at least four officers. Deputies charged her with four counts of child neglect and booked her into a county jail, according to the sheriff’s office. (She posted bond on Saturday, according to a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.)
By then, the office said, her son was out of the hospital and the children were with their father. Ms. Miller, her divorce lawyer and her husband’s lawyer did not respond to messages requesting comment.
Image
Irene Miller has her hands behind her back, with an officer behind her.
An image from video released by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office shows Ms. Miller being arrested at Orlando International Airport.Credit...Osceola County Sheriff's Office
The case has ricocheted around the internet and reignited an ongoing, often cantankerous, debate over modern parenting methods. What, exactly, constitutes neglect? When parents let their children play outside alone or walk by themselves to the store?
