Mum charged after driving off and leaving toddler in shopping cart

Perdue told police that she thought friends had placed her son into his car seat. Photo / Facebook

A mother from Maine has been charged with endangering a child after leaving her 17-month-old son in a shopping cart outside a Target in the US.

Taylor Perdue, 27, from Acton, was at the Robert Drive shopping center in Easton when the mishap occurred.

Officers responded to find the baby boy with a customer who found him, the Daily Mail reports.

The child appeared to be unharmed and was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital to be evaluated.

About an hour after leaving the child it appears the mother realized that her baby was missing and returned back to the store according to WHDH.

Police eventually caught up with Perdue who told cops that after leaving Target she returned to her car, along with three friends, and believed that one of her companions had secured her son in his rear-facing car seat.

She also told police that she traveled to Plymouth in her car while her friends left in a separate cars and that she only realized her son wasn't in the car seat only when she arrived at her destination.

Easton Police notified the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, which now launched its own investigation.

At the moment, Perdue has custody of the child, however Perdue is expected to be arraigned in Taunton District Court on a later date.