North Fort Myers man faces child neglect charge for leaving child alone for 5 hours

A 25-year-old man was arrested after authorities said he left a 6-year-old child in his care alone and hungry for five hours.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Benjamin Pec Tziboy, of North Fort Myers, faces a child neglect charge.

According to an arrest report, witnesses found the child crying under a tree and saying they were hungry around 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The child told deputies that they were woken up that morning by Tziboy, who said they had to work and would be back in an hour.

Deputies learned where the child lived and found a backdoor to the garage unlocked. The garage was converted into a living space, and deputies found the door to the main house locked and a door to an attached bedroom but found no one inside.

LSCO contacted the Department of Children and Families to investigate due to the circumstances.

According to the report, a DCF investigator learned that Tziboy regularly left the child home alone during the day but would usually leave the child with beans. DCF said this time, Tziboy did not leave beans. They said the child became hungry so he took a stick and unlocked a door to look for someone and didn’t find them.

DCF said the child was also scared that Tziboy would hit them with a belt for leaving.

The child was taken into DCF custody.

Deputies say Tziboy arrived at the home at around 7:30 the same night the child was found alone outside.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office says their investigation and conversation with Tziboy led them to arrest him for leaving the child alone for five hours. DCF said they did not find any evidence of physical abuse or malnutrition.