RACINE - The mother whose 2½-year-old son was found wandering the streets Monday morning left jail Tuesday evening, but may not contact any of her three children.

Desiree Collins, 21, is charged with child neglect, a misdemeanor, for allegedly allowing her son, Benjamin, to wander off. She didn't realize the child was missing until more than three hours later.

Collins left the Racine County Jail just after 9 p.m. Tuesday. The child neglect charge carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and up to $10,000 in fines.

Collins appeared before Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch Tuesday afternoon from the jail by video conference. The state asked for a $1,000 cash bond. Public Defender Gary Smith said there was no reason to require her to post cash as she was not a flight risk.

Rudebusch set a signature bond of $1,000, meaning that Collins owes the court the money if she violates the conditions of her release. As part of her release, Rudebusch ordered Collins not to have contact with Benjamin or her two other children named in the complaint.

According to court records, a 30-year-old woman ran out of her house to stop the boy from walking onto broken glass in the street outside her Marquette Street home. She said the boy was only wearing a T-shirt. She looked around for his parents or caregivers, but didn't find anyone.

The woman then brought the child inside her home and diapered and fed him before calling police. Police said no one had reported a missing child. Officers responded to the area to try to find someone who knew who the boy was, but were

unsuccessful.

At 1:36 p.m. Collins called police to say Benjamin was missing. She did not know how long he had been gone or if he had even been home that day.

An officer went to Collins' home and spoke to her and her mother about the missing child. Collins was very confused, the officer said, and did not seem to be making sense of where she was, where her son was or why she didn't know that he had been missing for 3½ hours.

Collins' mother told police that her daughter had not come home the night before. At 10 a.m., about 15 minutes before the boy was found, Collins' mother went looking for her and found her on Albert Street.

Collins' mother said she brought Collins home to care for two of her children, a 9-month-old baby and the boy. Her third child, a 3-year-old, had been at a relative's house that day.

Collins' mother said that she brought her daughter home and then left to run errands. She said Benjamin was home when she brought Collins back. When she returned from running errands, she noticed the boy was missing and asked Collins where the boy had gone, but Collins didn't know.

Smith said Collins is due in court today for a Children in Need of Protection matter and asked Rudebusch if she would allow contact with the children if it is ordered for the CHIPS matter. Rudebusch said if that happens, it would be "reasonable to ask for modification of the bond," but until the other court makes a decision, she would not grant the request.

On Monday, Collins' family members told The Journal Times they hoped the court would allow the children to be released to them. However, the conditions of Collins' bond prohibit her from living in the same home as the children.