Mother Who Left Kids for Africa Trip Sentenced

A woman convicted of leaving her five children home alone while she traveled to Nigeria to marry a man she met on the Internet has been sentenced to five years probation.
 
Shanell Monique Mosley, 34, also must take parenting classes and complete 150 hours of community service. She could go to jail for up to two years if she violates probation. The probation plan requires Mosley to have a job and a home that is clean and safe before she can be reunited with her five children. She has until July to complete the plan, said CPS spokeswoman Gwen Carter.
 
"I'm happy about it," Mosley's attorney Vivian King said of the probation plan. "I think it's the best resolution to a difficult situation."
 
However, Mosley is appealing her convictions for child abandonment and endangerment, King said.
 
The children are in CPS custody, officials said.
 
Mosley was met by authorities earlier this year as she got off an Air France jet at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
 
Her children were discovered alone in the home living in squalid conditions.
 
Mosley's children were 1, 7, 8, 9, 15 and 16 at the time. The other two children found in the home were 3- and 4-year-olds the family cared for on behalf of a single father who worked, officials said.
 
Authorities learned of the children being left alone after the 15-year-old crashed the family's van into the home's garage.
 
During her trial, Mosley testified that she left food, including a cooked turkey and gumbo. Mosley left a Lone Star food card, but authorities said it had no monetary balance.
 
She had expected her sister to care for the children while she was gone. The sister told Mosley that she was coming to Houston, King said. However, her sister did not make the trip, prosecutors said.