Woman arrested after teaching kids how to shoplift

[January 28, 2009]  LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (AP) -- Lee County authorities say a 24-year-old Lehigh Acres woman taught children how shoplift then abandoned them when the group was stopped.

 The woman was jailed on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child cruelty and larceny petit theft.

An investigator said the woman walked into a Lehigh Acres store with four children and showed a 12-year-old how to hide clothes underneath the other youngsters. The woman fled the scene when the investigator confronted the children. She was later arrested.

A Department of Children and Families spokeswoman said her agency will also investigate.

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Information from: The News-Press, http://www.news-press.com/

[Associated Press]

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