Mother of boys found wandering South L.A. charged with child abuse

The mother of two toddlers found wandering malnourished and soiled in South L.A. earlier this week was charged Friday with child abuse, prosecutors said.

Sidnicka Wilson was charged with two felony counts of child abuse, one felony count of possession of a controlled substance, two misdemeanor counts of possession of a smoking device and one misdemeanor count of giving false information to a police officer.

Wilson, 32, was arrested Wednesday, two days after her two sons, ages 2 and 3, were first spotted inside a liquor store at Stanford and Manchester avenues Monday morning trying to get a loaf of bread. A good Samaritan grabbed them before they walked into traffic.

Police described the children as being underfed and soiled, and said their home was in deplorable condition. The boys, though, appeared uninjured, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The boys were placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which also has six older children by Wilson, LAPD officials said.

Wilson was arrested near Western Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard -- several miles from where the toddlers were found -- about 1:30 p.m. after a citizen flagged down officers and directed them to a vehicle she was inside, LAPD officials said.

Officers allegedly cound rock cocaine and a glass pipe on Wilson.

If convicted of all charges, Wilson faces up to eight years in state prison for the felony charges and six months in county jail for each misdemeanor count. Prosecutors recommended her bail be set at $200,000.