Judge scolds mom accused of leaving 4 kids alone for cruise

"You can't make this up!"

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer said that Tuesday while scolding a public defender and a mother accused of leaving four minor children alone for a weekend cruise, according to a video NBC 6 South Florida posted to YouTube the same day. The station titled the clip "Judge scolds lawyer, mom accused of leaving 4 kids to go on cruise."

Nathalie Belizaire, 29, faces four felony counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. Authorities say she boarded Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Conquest on Sept. 25 for a trip to the Bahamas and left the children at her North Miami Beach apartment for three days. The children include a 2-month-old infant born in July, a 2-year-old, a pre-teen and a teenage girl.

Lether Bazile, the father of the infant, saw what appeared to be a Carnival ticket on Belizaire's WhatsApp story, Fox News and The Independent reported. He told police he had been informed the great-grandmother would care for the children. On Saturday, Sept. 26, he stopped by the apartment, saw a television glowing through the blinds and heard the children's voices inside. He called police. Officers found the four children hiding in a bathroom. Bodycam recorded that discovery, according to accounts from Fox News and WPLG Local 10.

Denise Wilkes, the children's grandmother, told officers Belizaire had promised to drop the kids off and never showed up, Fox News reported. Belizaire's brother, Steven Borgella, told police his sister texted him at 8 p.m. that Saturday asking him to check on them. North Miami Beach Police Chief Juan Pinillos later told a local outlet, The Independent reported, that anyone who has children knows a two-month-old needs tons of attention.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection took Belizaire into custody Monday, Sept. 28, as she disembarked at PortMiami. A Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson told The Independent the escort was a law enforcement matter unrelated to the cruise or the operation of the ship and referred questions to authorities.

At the Tuesday hearing, Belizaire wiped away a tear with her orange jail attire, according to Fox News. Her attorney said she denies the allegations. "Of course she does," Glazer replied, according to NBC 6's description of the clip. "One baby, the baby was born in July of this year. Who leaves a baby alone like that?" The channel's description also quotes the judge saying, "It says she went on a cruise and left her children home alone," and, "These poor kids, four of them, were home alone for three days…I'm just grateful nothing worse happened to these kids." Fox News carried related lines from the bench: "Who leaves four little kids alone to go on a cruise?" and "The poor kids were home alone."