Young Mom Allegedly Moved Out, Leaving Child She Says She Feared Boy Would Hurt Relationship With New Lover

A young mother, accused of leaving her 14-month-old son behind when she moved in with a boyfriend a month ago, pleaded innocent Thursday to second-degree child abandonment.

LaDawn Jump, 21 - who says she dropped in to feed and clean her son, Damon, every few days - is being held on $100,000 bail. A case-setting hearing was scheduled for Dec. 4 at the Regional Justice Center in south suburban Kent.

Jump, who has been barred from contact with children, took her 2-year-old daughter Ariel along when she moved in with her new boyfriend, but says she was afraid her son would jeopardize the relationship.

“I can probably say one thing: My son and I have never had a true mother-son bond,” Jump said.

“I went through a lot with him,” she said of the child, who had open-heart surgery six days after his birth in September 1996 at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center to correct a heart condition.

If convicted, Jump would face an exceptional sentence of five years in prison, Deputy Prosecutor Hugh Barber said Thursday. The standard-range sentence would be one to three months in jail.

Jump said she hopes to get help instead a prison sentence.

“I’m willing to go through anything to get my children back,” she said. “I love my kids, I love them with all my heart. I just didn’t know where to go.”

Both children are in custody of Child Protective Services.

Dozens of people offering help have called CPS and local media, said spokeswoman Kathy Spears with the state Department of Social and Health Services. Efforts are under way to establish a trust fund for all children in foster care, she said.

Jump’s toddler son was found alone in her apartment Nov. 13, when an Auburn police officer was evacuating the building because of a fire in another unit.

The officer thought the boy was a doll until he moved. He lay listlessly, his eyes open, by beanbag chairs that blocked the door from his bedroom to the hallway. There was some baby furniture in the room, and packed boxes in the living room. There was little food in the kitchen.

The child’s diaper was bulging and one of his thumbs was cut and severely infected - apparently from excessive sucking by the lonely, hungry child.

This is the second time Jump’s has been in trouble for her parenting practices.

In March, Chelan County authorities went to her apartment in Cashmere to investigate charges that she had stolen money and a VCR from neighbor.

They found Damon, then 6 months old, alone. Jump returned about a half-hour later, explaining that she had left him briefly to go to the grocery store.

A charge of third-degree child abandonment was dropped. Prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to show the child was at risk.

“She came back with her groceries so it seemed legit,” said Chelan County Deputy Prosecutor Steve Funderburk. “We didn’t feel it rose to the level of a case we could prove in trial.”