PAINTSVILLE, Ky. — A Johnson County woman was taken to jail, after her two children were found wandering alone in a parking lot.

A sheriff’s deputy was called to Starfire Hill, where the children were found. A social worker was able to identify the children from previous encounters, and the deputy went to their home in a nearby trailer court to try to make contact with the parents.

When he got there, he found the mother, identified as 37-year-old Josephine Barnett, watching TV. After first telling the deputy there were no children in the house, she later told the officer they had been there, but they must have left through the back door and she didn’t know where they were.

Barnett was arrested and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.