North Liberty man accused of leaving 2-year-old, 3-month-old home alone

A 23-year-old North Liberty man was arrested Tuesday morning after witnesses reported seeing his 2-year-old daughter wandering around unsupervised, according to a criminal complaint.

Jequan Sherell Scales was not home when officers arrived at his North Liberty apartment at 20 Penn Oaks Drive on a report of an unattended child alone in the hallway, the complaint states. When officers found Scales, he admitted that he had left his 2-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son alone in his apartment while he went to look for their mother, police reported.

Scales said he was gone for seven to 10 minutes. Before officers were dispatched to the scene, they saw Scales and the children's mother about four blocks from the apartment standing on the road talking, according to police.

Scales, who said he was the caretaker of the children, faces a charge of child endangerment without injury.

He is being held at the Johnson County Jail on a $2,500 bond.