Endangerment Charges For Nitwit Iowa Mom

DECEMBER 17--An Iowa woman who left her three small children home alone late Thursday night was arrested on endangerment charges after one of the children called 911 to report that “her mom and dad left and she needed help watching YouTube,” according to court filings.

Investigators charge that Natalee Kahl, 23, left the children--ages five, three, and one--alone around 10 PM in the family’s apartment in Coralville, an Iowa City suburb.

Police were dispatched to the residence after one of the children called 911 to report that she needed help watching videos online. Cops estimated that Kahl left the children by themselves for about 40 minutes.

Seen above, Kahl returned to the home while officers were inside the residence with her children. Kahl reportedly “admitted to leaving the house to go get her boyfriend from a neighbor’s house” and that her offspring “would not be able to take care of themselves” in case of an emergency.

Kahl was arrested on three counts of misdemeanor child endangerment. She also faces a possession of drug paraphernalia rap after cops found a glass pipe with marijuana residue in the home.

Kahl was released this morning from the Johnson County jail after being booked into custody yesterday evening.

In late-2015, Kahl, then living in Wisconsin, was in the news when her infant daughter was hospitalized after drinking vodka. According to press reports, Kahl said that the child’s father had, unbeknownst to her, poured vodka into a plastic water bottle. Kahl later used the bottle to add two ounces of liquid to baby formula, which her daughter subsequently consumed.

The child became ill and was rushed to a hospital, where her blood alcohol content was measured at .284 (nearly four times the legal limit). After the baby was released from the hospital, Kahl told a TV reporter of her thoughts upon seeing her daughter stricken. “There's a lot that goes through your mind, like, ‘Oh, my baby is going to get taken away, or she could die,’” Kahl said.

It is unclear whether Kahl’s current boyfriend is the same man involved in the 2015 vodka incident. (2 pages)