’40 Under 40′ Healthcare Executive Arrested For Abandoning Baby On Florida Beach

A rising star in the Texas healthcare industry, recently honored on the national “40 Under 40” list, has been arrested with her husband after abandoning their six-month-old baby. Florida BeachOfficials said.

According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to Miramar Beach around noon on Oct. 10 when beachgoers found the baby alone under a tent near 4000 Sandestin Boulevard.

Witnesses told officers The baby was alone The parents walked along the beach with their three other children for almost an hour. Other beachgoers contacted the local police.

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Sarah Somers Wilkes was charged with child neglect after her child was found unattended on a beach in Florida for about an hour. (Walton County Sheriff’s Office)

According to a release shared on the Walton County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, when deputies arrived, South Walton Fire District personnel assessed the baby and found her to be unharmed.

Shortly after, Sarah Somers Wilkes, 37, and Brian Wilkes, 40, Houston, Texas Returned to the scene.

Before leaving, the couple admitted to putting their son under the tent to sleep. He claims to have lost track of time, according to a Facebook press release.

Security footage reviewed by investigators The pair had been gone for about an hour and confirmed that they had left their cell phones behind with the baby.

Both were arrested and charged with child neglect without great bodily injury, a third-degree felony under Florida law.

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Brian Wilkes and his wife face charges of child neglect after leaving their son on a Florida beach for an hour. (Walton County Sheriff’s Office)

They were booked into the Walton County Jail and released the next day on $1,000 bond each.

The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) took custody of the couple’s four children until relatives in Texas came to collect them.

Somers Wilkes serves as regional president for Southeast Texas at US Heart and Vascular, a healthcare group supporting cardiovascular practices in Texas, Alabama and Arizona.

She was seen in the film earlier this year Journal of the Cardiovascular Profession “Under Forty” list, which recognized her as an innovative and influential leader in cardiology administration.

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Sarah Somers Wilkes, a health care executive honored on the ’40 Under 40′ list, was arrested along with her husband for leaving their baby alone on a Florida beach.

In their Facebook statement, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office reiterated its commitment Child safety And thanked the interlopers on the beach.

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“We are grateful for the quick-thinking beachgoers who raised the alarm and will continue to exercise the same kindness and concern as those who stepped in to care for the child,” Sheriff Michael Adkinson said in the post.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office for further comment.