Sheriff: Mall kids alone for more than six hours

Was the Rochester couple accused of leaving their three children unsupervised at Eastview Mall for hours simply unable to arrange child care for the day?

Or was the unorthodox arrangement, where an 8-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 1-month-old were left on a mall bench as their parents worked part of a weekly routine?

Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said sheriff's deputies do not know the circumstances that resulted in the three Rochester siblings spending more than six hours without their parents in the Victor mall on Saturday.

► Parents left kids alone on mall bench while working

"It seems quite certain at this point that there were more than six hours that there was no contact between the children and parents," Povero said.

Povero said the children were left in the public area of the mall, near Lord & Taylor department store shortly before noon. Their parents — Jean Seide, 39, and Bilaine Seint-Just, 36 — then went to work in the mall, where they both are maintenance workers. The couple performs custodial duties through a private contractor that serves Eastview Mall, Povero said.

Seide and Seint-Just were each charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Eastview's general manager Mike Kauffman confirmed that the couple worked as custodians for a private contractor. He declined to further discuss the incident because it was a police matter.

Mall security was alerted to the children's presence Saturday afternoon, after the 8-year-old pushed a stroller carrying the baby into a restricted hallway, Povero said. Other mall employees noticed the children in the restricted area and called security.

It was just before 6:25 p.m. when deputies and mall security officers located the kids in an employee access hallway, Povero said. It appeared that the kids spent most of their unsupervised mall hours in the public area near Lord & Taylor, he said.

Child Protective Services was notified and will be investigating what led to the incident, Povero said.

Since the children live in Monroe County, the agency in Rochester is expected to evaluate the family.

Rather than vilify the parents, many area residents on social media have questioned what caused the Rochester couple to feel they had no other alternatives.

"This is why preventative services are so incredibly important for folks in such a situation." said John Rabish, an executive board member of the Monroe County-based Federation of Social Workers. "It's terrible that there are people struggling so mightily."

"Were there no family members or friends who could help out, even in an emergency?" he asked. "If parents are working full-time, making ends meet. It's got to be overwhelming."

Without knowing what led to the incident, Rabish said he cannot offer specific advice. But "working poor families" need to know that there are resources available, he said.

"There is usually help out there," Rabish said. "It's just a question of connecting people to that help."

Rabish suggested for families in such a position to ask for assistance. Call Monroe County's Department of Human Services, groups like Catholic Charities, or reach out to a church or a community center, he suggested. Explain the situation. If they can't help, they can typically connect parents in need with the proper services.

VFREILE@Gannett.com