Betsy Stansell left her 19-month-old daughter in her car seat in the car at South Coast Plaza on January 13, 2002 in the mid-afternoon. Stansell wanted to return some cookware that she had purchased.  She admitted being gone from the car for 20 minutes, while other witnesses testified it was 40 minutes.  During that time, a passerby saw the baby and summoned security, who called the police.  The police officer arrived and summoned a tow truck.  The truck operator had broken into the locked car and the baby had been retrieved when the defendant returned.  The interior of the car was quite warm but not life-threatening. Orange County jurors recognized the potential dangers of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. Stansell was convicted of misdemeanor child abuse and the conviction has been upheld on appeal.