anyone see this in the news?

[OceanAnnie]

I can't imagine their rationale.

They are in it deep. Criminal. The woman works as a counselor? Her job will probably be in jeopardy (above and beyond any criminal charges) as it should be.

 

[karen l]

I cannot even imagine this. Last trip I dropped my car keys when we were returning to the hotel and when I realized they were missing I left DD5 in the room by herself to trace back to the car to get the keys and I was stressed out about that but it was late and she had already fallen asleep. Leaving any kid in a hotel room for hours is a poor choice no matter how you cut it.

Don't they remember the story of that little girl madilyn that disappeared from her hotel room and still has never been found while her parents were out to dinner while on vacation?

I was also thinking about Madilyn's tragic story. I hope these children are placed with a loving family.

 

[jjarman]

Wow. This reminds me of an incident that occurred one year when we were on vacation at the beach. We go to Dauphin Island, Alabama every year and one year around 6:00 in the evening we were out on the back deck watching our kids, 5 of them ages 3-11, play. These two women walk up from the beach with 2 babies. One was about 2 with only a diaper on and one was about 18 months with only a t-shirt on. They asked if they were our kids. (guess because we had so many at our house) We said no and they said they had found them wandering on the beach. Now the waves were up really high that afternoon and if one had been knocked down that would have been it. We gave them a spare diaper and a t-shirt so at least everyone was clothed and they took them back to their house which was nearby. My brother and I walked over to check on them and they had called the sheriff. He pulled up about that time and were talking to the ladies. While they were standing their another car pulls up to another house nearby. Two ladies get out and start walking to their house when they notice the babies. They start running to the sheriff. It is their kids. Apparently the kids had been put down for a nap in the playpen and the two daddies left in charge also fell asleep. Well, the babies wake up, crawl out of the playpen, get out of the house and make their way down to the water. This could have been a real tragedy and I bet those guys are still paying for it 11 years later.

 

[Nikisha421]

I cannot even imagine this. Last trip I dropped my car keys when we were returning to the hotel and when I realized they were missing I left DD5 in the room by herself to trace back to the car to get the keys and I was stressed out about that but it was late and she had already fallen asleep. Leaving any kid in a hotel room for hours is a poor choice no matter how you cut it.

Don't they remember the story of that little girl madilyn that disappeared from her hotel room and still has never been found while her parents were out to dinner while on vacation?

I was also thinking about Madilyn's tragic story. I hope these children are placed with a loving family.

I gues they dont remember...because I sure didn't remeber, but thanks for the reminder we are leaving in the morning for WDW and I am one of the moms who will always drop something and need to retrace my steps...but this just reminds me NOT TO DO!!!!I do so wonder what ever happened to that poor child???

 

[shezfrombermuda]

I recently read a post where a woman, I believe, was at the Poly pool quite late and there was a 9 year old swimming and doing somersaults into the pool. He was not being supervised by anyone and the woman was afraid he was going to get hurt. She contacted a CM who took the boy and it turned out his parents left him alone and went to DTD. As soon as I saw this thread, I thought this story would be about that child. You just have to wonder what goes through some people's minds?

 

[ma2jr]

stupidity run amok.

Well said.. I agree

 

[CanadianGuy]

This is for the News & Rumors Board.

As such, it will be moved there.

Knox

 

[fsmith2845]

Thank goodness the mousekeeper called her supervisor. Just makes me feel even better about the CM's at WDW.

Kudos to the Mouseketeer.. definitely did the right thing.. what were the parents thinking.. one thing to slip down to the ice machine or drink machine while the kids napped.. quite another to go "hang out" at the pool for hours. And of course, i am quite certain that the pool wasn't right beside where their rooom was. Likely halfway across the resort. If all the facts are true (and it sure seems that way) they deserve everything they get. At least the kids are safe and soudn (thank goodness).

 

[yooperfan]

If they willingly said they had done it before and had no problem with it, makes you wonder what questions they ask when they screen for foster parents. They had no problem giving their opinion when asked, so, I wonder what questions the system does ask.

 

[gymnastgirlflips]

Ugh, I can't believe people would just leave kids alone like that! Especially at that age in a place so big! Yeah, how did they even become their foster parents in the first place? Thank goodness for the mousekeeping, definetely the right thing to do.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

This is for the News & Rumors Board.

As such, it will be moved there.

Knox

but it dealt with a "resort"

 

[Luv2Roam]

but it dealt with a "resort"

Naw -- just some idiots in a resort. Did not have anything to do with a resort, other than that was where they were caught.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Just goes to show that there are STUPID people everywhere.

 

[MusiqChic99]

Stuff like this makes me so sad for the kids involved. I guess they were used to it considering how the foster parents talked.

Like others said this immediately brought back the story of the McCain girl. This situation could have been worse then just the children wandering around by themselves. Thank God housekeeping came when it did.

People really just dont think do they? I would never leave my son in a hotel room by himself...even for a few minutes. I just couldn't bare the thought of what might happen even in those few minutes.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

One would think that there would be higher expectations of a foster parent, especially one that works at a school.

I volunteer with children and have had my background thoroughly checked. (I passed) Several times we have had to refuse to turn over a child to a parent/guardian who showed up either drunk/high or both. One little boy came in on Mondays starving. Turned out that he was not being fed over the weekend. We started stuffing his little backpack every Friday afternoon. I have a family problem with children who are not being raised in a proper manner. The reason we do not turn these folks in is because of 'foster' parents like these. Things could be worse. You do what you can and pray a lot.

I am grateful that the housekeeper found them, reported the matter and hopefully someone in charge will be a whole lot more careful when they place these innocent babies next time.

Wonder if the foster money was being used to pay for the vacation while the kids did without?

Slightly Goofy who loves children.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Here is an update to this story:

Walter Pacheco
Sentinel Staff Writer
4:16 PM EDT, July 20, 2009

A Michigan couple left their foster children, ages 2 and 4, alone in their Walt Disney World hotel room for two hours Friday while they swam and tanned at the resort's pool, deputies said.

Stephen Simmons, 49, and Kimberly Simmons, 41, were booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of child neglect.

Each paid a $2,000 bond Saturday and was released from jail.

Orange County sheriff's deputies said Kimberly Simmons, a counselor at a Michigan school, told them she has left the boy and girl unsupervised in the past. Deputies said neither foster parent seemed bothered by leaving the children alone.

Officials at the Department of Children and Families, who have custody of the children, said leaving a child unsupervised is a serious safety risk.

"In an environment like a home, a parent is expected to take a nap or shower, but they are still responsible for ensuring the child can't hurt themselves," DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said. "In this situation and with a time delay of two hours, these children could have gotten out of the room or walked out of the hotel."

Hoeppner said family services officials from Michigan arrived in Florida Monday with the intention of taking custody of both children. Sheriff's reports show the couple has been in custody of the children for at least 23 months.

Reports show the housekeeping staff at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort entered the couple's room at 2:20 p.m. They found the 2-year-old girl wearing a diaper and the 4-year-old boy in his underwear.

The cleaning staff waited in the room for about five minutes for the parents to return. Hotel security then contacted the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said Disney's security staff searched the resort for nearly two hours and called the telephone number listed on the couple's registration form. Their calls were not returned. Security staff located the couple at the pool at 4:15 p.m. The couple was asked to return to their room.

When questioned by investigators, Kimberly Simmons told them she had taken her 6-year-old nephew swimming and was "aware the two children were alone in her hotel room," the arrest report states. Her husband "seemed OK with this arrangement."

Kimberly Simmons told deputies she is an out-of-state counselor. Deputies asked her if "leaving two small children in a hotel room alone for hours was reasonable in Michigan," according to the report.

She responded that she was aware of what she had done and knew how to "take care of children."

Disney staff also issued the couple a letter alerting them that they were not welcome on the property and were asked to leave.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Thanks for the follow up.

It's just mind boggling. Two hours is just the span of time from when the children were found and the "parents" located. No telling how long they were actually gone. The children being found like that is probably a blessing in disguise. If the "parents" thought that was okay, no telling what else was okay with them.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

WOW! I can't believe in this day an age that people would do this.

 

[dolphingirl47]

It must be stupid week at WDW this week. On the theme parks board somebody posted that she had been at Typhoon Lagoon and the parents had left a very young child completely unsupervised on a lounger. She got security after nobody had returned after about 45 minutes. The parents eventually turned up and were upset that the kid had gone and had a go at the poster for calling security. I think that kid was only 2 or 3 years old. I really can't understand how parents/ guardians would even think about doing something like this.

Corinna

 

[fsmith2845]

It must be stupid week at WDW this week. On the theme parks board somebody posted that she had been at Typhoon Lagoon and the parents had left a very young child completely unsupervised on a lounger. She got security after nobody had returned after about 45 minutes. The parents eventually turned up and were upset that the kid had gone and had a go at the poster for calling security. I think that kid was only 2 or 3 years old. I really can't understand how parents/ guardians would even think about doing something like this.

Corinna

Especially in light of the sexual assaults, weirdos flashing kids, etc. etc. I would never let my 2 kids out of sight at the parks let alone just leaving them on a lounger by themselves.