Giselle Flynn says she's not a criminal, just a mom.
The 37-year-old El Cajon resident was released from an Army prison in Oklahoma after being administratively discharged. She was arrested Feb. 14 after deserting the Army in 1999.
"I feel 150 pounds lighter. People can judge me all they want to, positive, negative, I don't really care. The only opinions that really matter are the opinions of my kids," said Flynn.
Flynn enlisted at Fort Gordon in Georgia in 1998. At the time, she had a 4-year-old son, and an 8-year-old daughter. She says in 1999, her son developed pneumonia and she was granted temporary leave. But Flynn never returned to the Army because she says there was no one to care for her children and she was faced with the prospect of turning them over to Child Protective Services.
"I'm just a mom with some kids and circumstances. I was just alone with those kids," said Flynn.
Flynn said she tried to turn herself in on two seperate occasions. For now, she'll focus on finding a new job after being terminated from her job as a bus driver because she lied on her job application - she said she was never enlisted in the military.
But most importantly, she says, she'll spend time with her children.
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"You can't say your mom doesn't love you. You never say that. You may not like me all the time, but it's not my job for you to like me. It's my job to be your mom, and so this decision I made based on being your mom," said Flynn.
