JASPER, Tenn. --A Marion County mother faces child neglect charges after deputies say she made her daughters walk to school.

The Chattanooga Times Free-Press reports that 32-year-old Lisa Marie Palmer was charged after authorities found her driving ahead of her daughters as she made them walk to school.

Marion County sheriff's deputy Chris Ladd, who spotted the two girls, says it appeared as if Palmer was driving ahead of her children and allowing them to catch up to her car until the kids reached the school.

Sheriff Ronnie "Bo" Burnett says Palmer told deputies that her daughters were being punished for missing the bus.

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Ladd said the girls had walked more than a mile and had about two more miles to go."Temperatures were cold, and traffic was beginning to become heavy with citizens heading to work," Ladd states. "Mrs. Palmer was in no position to reach her children safely in the event of an emergency."

Palmer is scheduled for an initial court appearance on April 18. Court officials say she doesn't have an attorney yet.

Marion County is located just west of Chattanooga.