Shanesha Taylor takes her tale of woe to Dr. Phil

Grab the Kleenex. Shanesha Taylor will be on Dr. Phil on Thursday to take her tale of woe to America.

Taylor is the mother who captured the hearts and minds of many Americans last year when she was arrested after leaving her 2-year-old and 6 month-old sons alone in her car while interviewing for a job in Scottsdale.

Her tearful mugshot went viral. She was, we were told, the face of poverty: a single mother who had fallen on hard times and had no choice but to endanger her little children.

Kind-hearted people offered their hard-earned cash to give Taylor a hand up. In all, more than $114,000 was donated to help Taylor get back on her feet.

And prosecutors offered her a smoking deal. All she had to do to avoid prosecution was to take a few parenting and substance-abuse classes and sock away a third of her windfall for future child-care and education expenses for her children.

She declined. Prosecutors released records showing that she was opting instead for cable TV and an entertainment budget and all the trimmings of a $50,000-a-year lifestyle that usually comes with a good-paying job.

And you wonder why Taylor, who has since had a fourth child, couldn't spare $40,000 for a trust fund for her children?

Last week, Taylor was sentenced to 18 years of probation after pleading guilty to felony child abuse.

On Thursday, she'll be on Dr. Phil in a segment entitled "Criminal or Misunderstood Mom."

Cue Dr. Phil, from a promo that aired on KTVK: "If you had this all to do over again, would you have just funded those trusts and moved on?"

Taylor: "And risk not being able to take care of my children? No."

Dr. P: "So you think you're better off being a convicted felon and having what money you have left?"

Taylor: "I think I'm better off having the means to be able to take care of my children."

Because cable TV is such an essential part of any child's upbringing.

Also on Thursday's show: the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, who initially stood by Taylor but later became disillusioned, questioning why she'd turned down job offers and refuse to set aside money for daycare and college.

"(Defense attorney) Benjamin Taylor and I really lobbied (Maricopa County Attorney) Bill Montgomery very aggressively to cut her a deal and give her a second chance," he told me. "Montgomery did that, and more. The original deal called for a handful of weeks of parenting classes, to place just under a third of the money in trust for her children's futures, fully fund daycare which makes sense to keep this from ever happening again, on top of that all of the charges would've been scratched and not on her record. It didn't have to be this way.

"This truly turned into a tragedy. On top of that the money is gone and we found out that she actually never was homeless or fully unemployed. All of that came out in court. It's just a crying shame."

Heavy emphasis on the crying part.