Mother Accused Of Leaving Abandoned Children With Sex Offender

Melissa Rodriguez-Brumfield of Moody was arrested Saturday after police discovered she had allegedly abandoned her children and left them in the care of a convicted sex offender and drug user.

Rodriguez-Brumfield, 38, reportedly left the children, ages 8 and 12, in the custody of 56-year-old George Hammond for over a week. Investigators say Rodriguez-Brumfield was staying with a boyfriend and felt the children were "in the way". When she left the children with Hammond, she reportedly told him to keep them.

According to the Department of Public Safety, Hammond was registered as a moderate risk sex offender after being convicted of the 1986 sexual assault of a 34-year-old woman. According to Moody Police Chief Chris Veselka, Hammond is often in trouble, uses drugs and has been involved in assault cases.

The children contacted their grandparents in McGregor who got in touch with Moody police. The children are currently staying with their grandparents until Child Protective Services completes an investigation.

Officers located Rodriguez-Brumfield and charged her with two second-degree offenses of abandoning and endangering her children. She remained in McLennan County Jail Monday on $300,000 bond.

Rodriguez-Brumfield was involved in another criminal case in December. She was arrested on two charges of animal cruelty on Dec. 16 after a tip from a neighbor led to police discovering a dead dog tied to a tree outside of her house and another locked in a cage and nearly dead.