Woman convicted of child neglect

A Wauwatosa woman was convicted of misdemeanor child neglect after her young children exited the house while she slept Friday afternoon.

According to Wauwatosa police:

A woman walking her dog saw a 3-year-old girl walking on the sidewalk in the 6300 block of West Lloyd Street wearing only a diaper and T-shirt at 3:30 p.m. She assumed a caregiver was close by so she continued on her way. But when she passed by again 20 minutes later, the child was still outside in the 55-degree, windy weather. The little girl walked into the street trying to cross to see the dog.

Officers approached the child, who said her mom was sleeping. She led them into her house, and the officers found Bethany Lohman, 29, asleep on the couch.

They woke her up and explained the girl had been outside for some time. She then panicked, saying her 1-year-old son also was missing. They found him on the upstairs front porch where the railing was falling apart and dangerous items like lighter fluid and charcoal were kept.

Lohman said she worked late nights as a stripper and was tired. The house was her cousin's and she was staying there until she could find her own place. She went on to say that she had been moving frequently for the past couple of years and had been investigated by child welfare professionals in Winnebago and Brown counties but the cases had been closed.

Wauwatosa police called the Milwaukee County Bureau of Child Welfare, which gave temporary custody to Lohman's cousin. She has been sentenced to go to jail in May.