A mother in Tampa found the unthinkable when she went to go check up on her 10-year-old son, who was asleep in a different room.
They say a mother's instinct is always spot-on, and there had to be some reason this mom – whose name was not released because her family is the victim of a crime – got up at 4:30 am to check on her son.
The woman said she locked her home, but the suspect, 25-year-old Ernest Johnson, still managed to break in and make his way up to the boy's room, according to USA Today.
"I wake up and check my kid in his room," she said. "Saw him in the bed all naked and started screaming."
Johnson most likely entered the house through the front door, and the home does not have an alarm, so he allegedly used burglary tools to get inside.
The victim's mom tried to catch him, but he exited through the window. She called 911 and police were able to obtain fingerprints from the windowsill.
A local news station, 10 News, visited the house where Johnson was living, and the family that owns the property revealed that they were not surprised by the charges.
"We knew he had a problem. I am angry, mad, shocked that he would do something like this... but really not surprised. A similar situation happened with my nephew – caught in a compromising situation, but we just tried to help him. We gave him a place to live, no one else would," said Harold Mack.
Tampa police said Johnson has previous charges for exposing himself, but not enough offenses to designate him as a sex offender, according to 10 News.
Johnson was ordered held without bond in his first court hearing on Monday.
As for the little boy, his mother said that he is fine, but a little shaken up.
"He was so scared, just a little boy, he didn't know what to do, He was sleeping the whole time, didn't know he was in the bed."
