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Woman charged with neglect after driving car with kids on roof to ‘teach them a lesson’

FAIRMONT, W. Va. — A West Virginia woman contends she was practicing tough love, but authorities have charged her with child neglect after she drove in a parking lot with children on the roof of her car.

Cassie Gorbey, 37, of Grant Town told police she was waiting for a friend at the Country Club Motor Lodge on Wednesday when two of the three children with her climbed onto the roof of her SUV, WAJR reported.

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The children present included two 5-year-olds and an 8-year-old, but the complaint did not state which two children crawled onto the roof of the 2011 Ford Escape.

Gorbey told authorities she attempted to “teach them a lesson” by placing the vehicle into gear and driving in reverse in the parking lot, according to the criminal complaint.

While driving, “Gorbey overheard multiple witnesses screaming at her to stop." But instead, officers said she placed her vehicle into drive and parked the vehicle in the location where officers later found it while the children remained on the roof, WBOY reported.

According to the complaint, Gorbey said during an interview with Child Protective Services that she drove with the children on the roof of the vehicle so that they could “see how easy it was to fall off the roof.”

Gorbey, who is being held on a bond totaling $100,012, has been charged with two counts of child neglect creating risk of injury, WBOY reported.