Texas babysitter arrested after allegedly leaving infant alone inside home for hours, reports say

‘She was being abused and I didn’t know it,’ mother says

Kelsey Paige Frazier was arrested on a charge of child abandonment and endangerment, according to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. (Smith County Sheriff’s Office)

An East Texas woman was arrested after she left an 11-month-old child who she was babysitting alone inside a closet, authorities say.

Kelsey Paige Frazier, 26, was arrested Friday on a charge of child abandonment and endangerment, according to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. Her bond was set at $150,000.

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Frazier allegedly picked up the infant around 7 a.m. on Oct. 3 and took the child to her apartment, which happened routinely, according to media reports. Frazier then left the apartment at 9:30 a.m. without the baby, KETK reported.

The child’s mother, Alyssa Duffey, told the Tyler TV station that she received a Facebook message from someone who said their mother found the baby inside a closet. The child was strapped into an infant swing.

Alyssa Duffey said the woman told her she heard a dog barking inside the apartment, and when she went inside, she heard a baby crying in the closet.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph reported the woman who found the baby is Frazier’s family friend and went to the apartment around 12:30 p.m.

The Duffey family told KETK that they knew Frazier since around the time their baby was born.

“I thought we had had this perfect life for Addison, I thought that everything was perfect and I was really wrong," Alyssa Duffey told KETK. “She was being abused and I didn’t know it.”

The Tyler Morning Telegraph reported an arrest warrant for Frazier was issued Friday and she was arrested at her apartment.


About the Author

Rebecca Salinas is an award-winning digital journalist who joined KSAT in 2019. She reports on a variety of topics for KSAT 12 News.

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