Marion mom found guilty of lying about near-abduction of daughter at Walmart

Marion Star

MARION - A Marion woman will not be visiting her local Walmart anytime soon after falsely claiming that one of her children was almost abducted at the store.

Chelsie "Harris" Hendel, 27, was ordered on Tuesday to stay away from the retailer after being taken into custody last Friday on a charge of inducing panic.

The mother of two pleaded no contest at her arraignment and was found guilty, according to online court records, and fined $400. She claimed in a Facebook Live post last week that a man had grabbed her daughter in the Walmart parking lot.

Hendel was sentenced in Marion Municipal Court on Tuesday to 90 days in jail, with 87 of those suspended with a $400 fine, $250 of that suspended. She must obtain a mental health screening and stay away from Walmart stores for two years, the length of her probation.

In the video, since taken down from Facebook, Hendel described the man as having dark hair, wearing dark blue jeans, a dark blue shirt and tennis shoes.

"That man walked up and he grabbed (my daughter) and I looked at him and I said what the F are you doing that is my kid," she said in the video.

Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey said that Hendel had implied in the video and in the comment section of the post —which garnered hundreds of reactions — that she reported the incident to store employees as well as law enforcement.

"I wanted to let everyone know about this because they couldn't get a good look of him on the cameras and there is nothing really that we could do about it but she is fine and everything is fine," Hendel said in the end of the video.

However, deputies with the Marion County Sheriff's Office said the resident never notified Walmart about the incident, nor did she contact law enforcement.

According to the investigation notes from the office, Hendel was contacted by a deputy and when asked about the video, stated a man tried to grab her daughter under the arm.

When asked if she reported the incident, Hendel said she was too shaken up to call police or report the attempt to Walmart employees. The mother told law enforcement the she later went into the store and went shopping.

However, Bailey said security footage provided by Walmart showed Hendel and her children arriving at the store without incident before shopping for about 45 minutes. He said the footage showed the incident never happened.

According to the report, when the deputy told Hendel that they had reviewed the video, she confessed that the event did not take place.

The report says that Hendel admitted that no one had touched her child, instead stating that a white male had made rude comments toward her and her daughter and that was why she made the Facebook live video.

However, deputies said store surveillance footage did not support that claim, since no one appeared to be close to Hendel or her child in the parking lot.

HKarim@nncogannett.com

740-375-5154

Tweet me @Hasan_Marion