OBPD Says Mother Went To California Leaving 2 Elementary School Children Home Alone

Ormond Beach, FL – A 40-year-old Ormond Beach woman is charged with two counts of child neglect after Ormond Beach police officers say she went to California, leaving two elementary school-age children to fend for themselves. Yuliya Soltanova was arrested on Monday, June 7. The Ormond Beach Police Department (OBPD) was alerted to the issue by the principal of the school the children attended on May 25. The principal told officers that one child had missed two days of school and the other said their mother was in California and left them home alone.  Several neighbors to the home where the family lived told investigators that this was not the first time Soltanova has left the children. One of them said she’d been leaving them on their own since one of them was seven years old. A neighbor also said that the mother went to Mexico a couple of weeks earlier and the children’s biological father had to fly from California to take custody of them. Police asked one of the children to call their mother. she answered.  When asked if she was in California, she said she wasn’t. When told that her children had said that’s where she was, she admitted to it but said she had a babysitter. According to the police report, there were a few more calls like that and the children had pictures on their phones from where their mother went. One of the witnesses said that she would take care of the children. Police checked for criminal history and finding none, agreed to place the children in her custody. While this was happening, Soltanova called that witness, who put her on speakerphone.  While on the phone she stated that the kids were "mean to me and I needed a break." She requested that the witness take care of the children until she returned on June 7, which is the day she was arrested. Her bond was set at $5,000 and she bonded out of jail the same day.