VAN NUYS : Mother Convicted for Leaving Child in Van

A Burbank mother of two was convicted Thursday of endangering her 2-year-old daughter by locking the child in a van in a Van Nuys parking lot as the temperature approached 95 degrees.

Kaori Cook, 30, did not appear in Van Nuys Municipal Court, but through her attorney, David S. Kestenbaum, she issued a no-contest plea to a single misdemeanor charge of child endangerment.

Municipal Judge Alan Ellis sentenced Cook to two years probation, during which she must work 50 hours in community service and complete a parenting class.

Cook was charged with leaving her daughter, Tay, in the vehicle for about 30 minutes June 19. She did so because she didn’t want to awaken the sleeping child, Kestenbaum said.

“This incident, although serious, was an accident, a mistake,” Kestenbaum said, requesting that his client be placed in a parenting program and the charge be dropped.

“We’re always hearing about dogs dying in the car after about 10 minutes, and she left her child in the car for about 30 minutes,” said Deputy City Atty. Kenneth D. Tso, as he opposed Cook’s request for placement in the program in lieu of a criminal sentence.

The incident happened in the parking lot of a Costco store in the 6100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys. Police were called after a passerby heard Tay Cook crying inside the van and could not locate the owner of the vehicle, prosecutors said.

The extreme heat that quickly builds up in a sealed car can cause brain damage and even death, but Tay Cook appeared to be fine after her mother returned from the store, according to a police report.

Cook still has custody of Tay and of an 11-month-old girl who she had brought with her into the store. She has been taking parenting classes, and Ellis ordered her to continue taking the classes as part of her probation.

Earlier this year, the city attorney’s office successfully prosecuted another woman who left her daughter for about an hour in a locked station wagon in the parking lot of another Costco store in Canoga Park. In that case, the woman was sentenced in February to 200 hours of community service.