Melissa Overby thought it would be better to allow her 6-year-old son to stay behind in their Jim Thorpe home while she drove to New Jersey to retrieve a computer than to force the boy to come along.

State police, and District Judge Edward Lewis, took a different perspective."Just put him in the car and take him with you next time," Lewis admonished her.Lewis, of Jim Thorpe, found sufficient evidence during a preliminary hearing Wednesday to send a charge against Overby of endangering the welfare of a child to Carbon County Court. He released her on $10,000 unsecured bail.Overby, who did not have a lawyer, testified on her own behalf. Her son played quietly beside her during the hearing.The charge, Overby testified, was "excessive," and could be a "huge hindrance to her professional and personal life." She said she has no criminal record, and that leaving her son alone was an "isolated incident."Overby, 31, and a single mother, was concerned that the charge would surface whenever she applied for a new job.She testified that she and her son live in Ringoes, N.J. But Hurricane Sandy had damaged the roof of her home so severely that they had to stay in her family's vacation home until she could afford the repairs. That was difficult, she said, because she had been unemployed for a year.She had a job offer, but it hinged on immediate access to a computer.She said the weather was stormy, and her son, who gets car sick, felt queasy and did not want to go with her. Her parents were in Florida, Overby testified, and she had no other family members or friends in the area to call upon, and could not afford a baby sitter.Overby said that after much deliberation, she decided to allow him to stay home while she made the approximately 170-mile round trip.She said she settled him into her bedroom with juice and crackers. He had a landline phone, so there was no danger of cell phone batteries dying. She armed the house alarm.Overby said her son knows to call 911 in an emergency. He's mature for his age, she said. She had her cell phone, and she and her son were "in constant contact" while she drove."I didn't think anything would go wrong," she said.In retrospect, she said, leaving him by himself "was not the best decision to make."Assistant District Attorney Seth Miller called state troopers Michael Gesualdo and Nicolas De La Iglesia, both of the Lehighton barracks, to testify.Gesualdo said that at 1:26 p.m. June 30, he was called to Overby's home by Bear Creek Lake security. When he arrived, the front door was open and he could hear a child crying.It turned out that the boy had opened the door between the house and garage, setting off the alarm. Neighbors heard it, and heard him crying, and called security.He spotted a piece of paper with a phone number on it near the telephone, and called the number Overby's cell phone. Overby told him she was an hour and 15 minutes away, and was on her way home.Police eventually took the boy to the barracks.De La Iglesia testified that he met with Overby at 3:35 p.m. at the barracks. Overby provided a written statement.Miller said he tried to persuade Overby to request placement in the Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition program. If she completed the program, her record would be expunged. Overby said Miller could not answer her questions about the program. Lewis said she was given written documents that explained it.