Police: Babysitter hired on Care.com found drunk and high on the job

A woman was arrested Wednesday afternoon when police found her allegedly drunk and high in an Arlington neighborhood while she was supposed to be babysitting a young boy, according to Arlington police.

Just after 1:30 p.m., police received a call about a woman stumbling near Egerton Road with a 3-year-old boy.  Responding officers found Susan Devereaux, 51, of Medford, attempting to enter a home on the road, allegedly smelling of alcohol.

After having an initial conversation with Devereaux, the officers learned she was the child’s babysitter. Police also said she was attempting to enter the wrong house.

Police were able to reunite the child with his mother. The mother told police she had hired Devereaux on Care.com, and that she had babysat the child multiple times before.

After the initial investigation, police said Devereaux had drank numerous alcoholic beverages and taken prescription drugs earlier in the day. She was charged with reckless endangerment of a child, and will be arraigned at a later date in Cambridge District Court.

Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan said investigators will be consulting with Care.com management about the incident. 

“I urge everyone to take all possible extra steps you can take while screening a potential babysitter or caregiver,” Ryan said in a statement. “A reference or a website’s background check should only be one component of a larger vetting process. Never rely solely on one reference or a single report.”

A Care.com spokesperson called the incident “deeply disturbing” in a statement Thursday evening:

“This incident is deeply disturbing, and we are thankful that the child is now back with his family. We have proactively reached out to local authorities to assist in the investigation in any way we can. Safety is of paramount importance to Care.com and when any safety incident occurs, it hits us very hard. Our thoughts are with this family tonight.”