Hannah Sprang appears before Manitowoc County court via Zoom, September 8, 2025. (Manitowoc County court/Zoom)
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Manitowoc County woman was sentenced to probation on Monday for leaving three children she was caring for unattended in a vehicle for an hour while she got her nails done.
Hannah Sprang, 24, pleaded no contest to three counts of child neglect. As part of a plea deal, two of the counts were reduced to misdemeanors. On the third count, a felony, the judge agreed to defer prosecution for three years. If Sprang follows a set of conditions, including not offering babysitting or daycare services, the charge will be dropped.
In court Monday, assistant district attorney Angelina Scarpelli read a statement from the parents of a 2-year-old victim.
“Even today, there are still moments when we pull into a parking spot and he says, ‘don’t leave me in here.’ Every time, we reassure him that we would never leave him alone in the car. Hearing your child say those words is heartbreaking.”
Before she was sentenced, Sprang said she was sorry.
“I would just like to say I apologize and I regret deeply what I did, and I just apologize for what I did. And I know it was wrong.”
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a spa on July 18 for a report of children in a vehicle.
An officer talked to the woman at 12:17 p.m. at her vehicle. Inside were three children, ages 1, 2, and 2, that Sprang was caring for.
“HANNAH seemed unphased by the reason for contact or that she left three (3) children in an unattended and not running vehicle. HANNAH stated that she was at (a nail store) to get her nails done and that they had made her wait because they were not ready for her,” the complaint states. “HANNAH stated that her appointment was for 1100 hours but did not get in right away. HANNAH stated that she then checked on the children several times during her appointment.”
But police checked the spa’s security cameras.
“I was provided access to the video surveillance and learned that HANNAH arrived in the chair at 1049 hours. At 1149 hours (one (1) hour later), HANNAH left to check on the children. HANNAH then returns and does not leave until 1217 hours when she observed my squad behind her vehicle in the parking lot. The total amount of time the children were in the unattended vehicle was one (1) hour and twenty-eight (28) minutes. I then made contact with HANNAH and informed her that she provided me with misinformation as she only checked on the children one time during her visit to get her nails done. Again, HANNAH appeared to be unphased by this information,” the complaint states.
“When I reached into the vehicle, the vehicle’s interior was not overly warm. The interior was warm but not extremely warm. The outside temperature according to my squad was 69 degrees,” the complaint quotes the officer.
Police then request to get a thermometer to the scene to measure the temperature.
“I took the temperature of the rear passenger area of the SUV. I consistently received a reading of 81.1 degrees. The children did not appear to be in any physical distress although crying probably due to the amount of contact.”
“I explained to HANNAH that I wanted all of the children’s information and a phone number to each parent. HANNAH was not real cooperative with me. HANNAH intermittently provided information to me; however, felt the need to be texting and calling each parent prior to me having a chance to talk to them. HANNAH stated that she had made notification to each parent and they were responding to our location,” the complaint states.
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