Panhandling parents found across US

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - An I-Team 8 hidden camera investigation in May exposed panhandlers falsely claiming to be homeless along the interstate . Even worse now, two panhandling parents are accused of using their two-year-old for money to the point she was on the verge of heat exhaustion.

Tuesday, the father, 36-year-old Jacob Cotton, of Bloomington, spoke out from jail .

Police received several calls Sunday from concerned drivers who saw the father holding the toddler alongside the road at Thompson and Emerson.

In one of the 911 calls, a driver described what she saw.

"And this kid he is like trying to hold on to the kid and this kid is screaming ballistically and trying to wiggle out of his arms," she said.

Police say the toddler was sunburned, sick and on the verge of heat exhaustion.

Cotton along with the girl’s mother, 23-year-old Lindsay Ramon, are charged with child neglect.

Cotton told reporters from jail, “I was trying to get gas money to go back to Bloomington and I had my daughter with me trying to get gas money and I got arrested.”

He claims all the money Ramon made as a stripper over the weekend was stolen.

He said, "She was working up here and we had Gracie. And a kid that was staying in her motel room stole all of her money out of her purse and we didn't have any money to get home. And we didn't know how else to make money to get home."

He added, "I didn't know what I was doing is wrong. I am really sorry and I didn't know I would end up here for what I done."

Although there are several 911 calls and witnesses who say he stood outside Hardee’s with the child in the heat for hours, he says not true.

He claimed, “I was out there for about 10 minutes.”

I-Team 8 investigated the issue of parents panhandling with their kids and found several documented cases in just the last year across the country.

In San Francisco, a four-year-old panhandler was eventually taken from his parents last July.

In Michigan, a couple stood alongside the road with a three-year-old child looking for donations.

In Ashland Oregon, a couple stood with their three children including a three-month-old. They claim they made $300 a day.

The issue is concerning to those who called police in Indianapolis July Fourth weekend. One 911 caller was emotional, saying, “I don’t know, the kid is just constantly crying.”

When arrested by police, Ramon had $93 in cash and Cotton had $5, more than enough to fill a gas tank.

I-Team 8 spoke with the toddler’s grandfather Tuesday, who says he is very upset by the situation. He declined an interview, saying the family is now talking with Indiana Child Protective Services to help the little girl.