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Mother Of Wandering Elk Grove 8-Year-Old Facing Child Endangerment Charges

ELK GROVE (CBS13) - A child was found wandering without shoes and a shirt in an Elk Grove neighborhood.

His mom didn't even call 911 when the 8-year-old disappeared.

Fresh out of jail, Stephanie Clark and her boyfriend were ready to tell their side of the story.

"You know it's just bull****. They got me on something that wasn't true," said Clark.

It's a story quite different than what police say happened when they found Clark's son wandering the streets of Elk Grove.

Police say she had gotten into an argument with the 8-year-old and the child left upset.

"It's bull****. All he wanted to do was go outside and play and he was at my friend's house," said Clark.

Police say they found the 8-year-old on Elk Grove Florin Road more than a half a mile away from home and that he'd defecated himself.

"I went out looking for him three or four times," said Clark. "I went walking around and, you know, I went to the friends house."

But police say her son was away from home for nearly three hours.

"Everyday, everyday he is out," said a neighbor, we'll call Sarah.

This neighbor says Clark's son is out all the time, wandering alone at all hours of the day.

"I've seen him out as late as 10 o'clock at night," said Sarah. "I never see her outside."

But Clark insists she's an experienced and excellent mother.

She's got three kids, with one on the way.

"I knew where he was at. He was at my friend's house. I know where he hangs out," said Clark.

But where he was found wasn't at her friend's house.

"That's what I don't understand," said Clark.

Clark faces a charge of child endangerment and failure to provide.

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