Patricia Anne Bronson via The Pinellas County Jail
Florida attorney Patricia Anne Bronson was arrested over the weekend after leaving two young girls — ages 7 and 3 — alone at a beach for at least a half hour. Bronson was charged with two counts of third-degree felony neglect of a child without great bodily harm. She was also charged with a third-degree felony charge of introducing/possessing contraband in a county detention facility after a vape pen was found on her during booking.
As reported by the Tampa Bay Times, witnesses reported the children were alone for between 30 and 45 minutes.
On Saturday morning, witnesses watched Bronson drop the girls off at Upham Beach, then get back in her car and leave, an arrest report states. The arrest report described Bronson as a “caregiver” to the girls.
One witness told deputies that she asked the 7-year-old where her sister was and the girl responded by pointing to the water. The witness ran to the water and found the 3-year-old in “waist deep” water by herself, reports state. The girl continued to run off, the witness told deputies. The witness later persuaded the 3-year-old to stay with her and the 7-year-old.
Bronson admitted to officers she left the kids alone while “parking the car.”
As reported by ABA Journal, Bronson was previously suspended by the Florida Bar:
Bronson was suspended for 90 days in 2017 after she conditionally admitted to working with a nonlawyer paralegal who gave others the impression that he was an attorney. Bronson said she didn’t know that the paralegal was soliciting clients, accepting client funds and trying to negotiate resolutions with prosecutors.
According to Florida Bar records, Bronson is an attorney at White & Case in Tampa where the firm’s Global Operations Center is located. The firm has not commented on Bronson’s arrest, though they told the Tampa Bay Times they are investigating.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.