Florida lawyer faces child neglect charges after leaving kids, three and seven, alone on beach - with younger girl found waist-deep in the surf

A high-flying Florida lawyer is facing child neglect charges after she left two children that she is legally responsible for alone on a beach - which resulted the younger of the children wandering into waist deep waters. 

Patricia Bronson, 41, was taken into custody on last Saturday when sheriff's deputies were called to a beach in St. Petersburg after witnesses reported seeing the woman drop the kids, three and seven, off and then leaving them. 

Eventually, one of those witnesses went over to the children after noticing that the younger was nowhere to be seen. When the witness asked where the younger child was, the seven-year-old pointed towards the Gulf of Mexico, where the tot was 'waist-deep.'

The arrest report, seen by The Tampa Bay Times, were left alone at Upham Beach Park for up to 45 minutes. Bronson told officers that she was merely parking the car while the kids were alone. 

A Florida lawyer is in hot water after being accused of leaving two kids alone at the beach for 45 minutes

Witnesses say that Patricia Bronson left two children, three and seven, alone at the beach and when she returned was 'nervous and fidgeting,' an arrest report said 

According to Bronson's Facebook page, she married a man named Larry Bronson in 2020 and took his name. Numerous posts on that page show the couple with two young children. 

The report mentions that Bronson was 'acting nervous and fidgeting' when talking with deputies, something she attributed to being cold. 

Upon booking, Bronson was slapped with another charge of introducing/possessing contraband into a county detention facility after she was found to be in possession on a vape pen with an undefined liquid substance inside. 

According to various online profiles, Bronson is an attorney with White & Case LLP, a Tampa law firm with international ties. On her LinkedIn page, she is refers to herself as a 'conflicts attorney,' a lawyer who handles ethical matters at a firm. Bronson also works in appeals. 

Bronson graduated from the Florida Coastal School of Law in 2007.  

A representative from the firm told the Tampa Bay Times that they are looking into the allegations. 

According to various online profiles, Bronson is an attorney with White & Case LLP, a Tampa law firm with international ties

This isn't Bronson's first legal trouble. 

In 2022, Bronson was arrested on DUI charges which were later downgraded to reckless driving charges.  

In 2017, the attorney was suspended for six months after forming a practice, Cadillac Law Group, with a nonlawyer paralegal who was also an investigator, Joseph V. Cannistra. During their time together, 

Cannistra found to have solicited clients, negotiated plea deals and accepted funds while giving the impression that he was a licensed attorney, the Florida Record reported at the time.  

Bronson, then going by Patricia Horal, maintained that she had no knowledge of Cannistra's activities. Bronson said that she warned him when his misdeeds became apparent but later found that she had been locked out of their offices, the Record report notes.

Online records show that Bronson was booked into Pinellas County Jail on two counts of neglect of a child without great bodily harm. 

Bronson posted a $15,000 bond the day after her arrest and was released.