County Court Judge Mary Celeste is under investigation after police found a young child left alone locked in her car Wednesday at a Sam’s Club parking lot.
The Denver Police Department is investigating the allegations that Celeste left the child alone while she shopped inside the Sam’s Club near Alameda Avenue and South Broadway. Witnesses say she purchased olive oil and a movie.
A customer first alerted store employees early in the afternoon about seeing the child alone in a car. Employees called 911 and then tried to get the girl out of the car, but it was locked.
Firefighters responded to the scene and the judge returned to the car with her purchases before they could get the girl out of the car.
Charging decisions will be made by a special prosecutor to avoid a conflict of interest with the Denver district attorney’s office.
“We have been cooperating with the authorities and will continue to do so,” Celeste’s attorney, Gary M. Jackson, said in an e-mail. “There are a number of extenuating circumstances that are related to the circumstances of Wednesday’s incident.”
Celeste has been a Denver County Court judge since 2000. She has received the American Association of University Women “Trailblazer Award,” and last month she was given the 2011 Mary Lathrop Award by the Colorado Women’s Bar Association.
