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Police: Man, woman abandoned young boy on Parkersburg street

Britney Ann Willis and Sylvester J. Thomasson

PARKERSBURG — Two Parkersburg residents have been charged with felony child neglect after allegedly abandoning a 7-year-old child on 13th Street.

Britney Ann Willis, 32, of 1011 18th St., Parkersburg, was arrested Monday and arraigned in Wood County Magistrate Court on a charge of child neglect with risk of injury or death.

Sylvester J. Thomasson, 57, of 1011 18th St., Parkersburg, was arraigned Wednesday in Wood County Magistrate Court on a charge of child neglect with risk of injury or death.

Both Willis and Thomasson were in jail Wednesday with their bond set at $15,000.

According to the criminal complaint, Thomasson took Willis’ 7-year-old son to a location in the 600 block of 13th Street Sunday. Willis is Thomasson’s girlfriend.

Thomasson told the boy he and Willis were going to the store and had him sit on stone steps, police said.

The two instead left town and did not return for the child, police said. According to the complaint, Willis told police it was Thomasson’s idea to leave the child at that location, which police say was located in a neighborhood with a high drug and crime rate and near a busy street and intersection at 13th and Lynn streets.

The report said Thomasson had been providing financial support and housing for Willis and her son for more than a year.

The child is safe and a referral has been made to state Child Protective Services, said Parkersburg Police Chief Joe Martin.

The charge of felony child neglect with risk of injury or death carries a fine of $1,000 to $3,000 and one to five years in jail.

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