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Babysitter arrested after woman finds 1-year-old wandering on busy road

PALM BAY, Fla. — A woman and her son said they saw a boy wandering in the right lane of Dixie Highway in Palm Bay as cars passed by. Kristina Barwick and her son Toby Barwick swerved to avoid the boy.

Toby then jumped out of the car and picked the child up, and Kristina Barwick called 911.

"She noticed the kid before I did. I didn't until she swerved," said Toby Barwick.

Police said after several minutes, the 1-year-old's babysitter, Misty Rae Diffin, showed up to get the child, but the Barwicks waited for police to arrive.

"There's no adult around. He just walked right out in the middle of US-1" said Kristina Barwick during a 911 call.

Officers said they notified the Department of Children and Families.

"You weren't watching him good enough. I almost hit him in the middle of the road. The cops are on their way," said Kristina Barwick to Diffin in the 911 call.

The child's mother told police that she's known the 23-year-old babysitter for 10 years, and admitted that Diffin had a substance abuse relapse.

Diffin told officers she works overnight shifts and fell asleep.

Diffin was arrested and charged with child neglect, police said. She's in jail on $5,000 bail.

"She didn't care and it's sad. Thank God the baby's OK. That's all that matters," said Kristina Barwick.

DCF said the boy is back with his mother and was not hurt.

WFTV found out Diffin was arrested earlier this month by Melbourne police on charges of possession of morphine.