Mom on Trial - Leaves child in Car for minutes

[meandtheguys2]

Argh! There are real abusive people out there, drug dealers, thieves, molesters and killers. But a police department spends their time arresting a mother for a ridiculous charge.

Whomever made the initial report, well, all I can wish on them is karma.

 

[SandraVB79]

NO, she is NOT a great parent, she is a neglectful one. I don't care if her child was sleeping, bad weather outside, you don't abandon your child, even for a moment. What was she thinking? She wasn't! That child could have been taken, a car hit that car. This makes me furious.
Kathee

You can't stay with your child 24 hours a day. And even then they can knock you down and grab your child. As other posters have said, there are many "what if"s. If something has to happen, it will happen.
Nothing happened here.

If this is the case...and the law...someone needs to lock my mom up for about 20 years. She often left me and my sister alone in the car while she ran errands, etc.

And yes, I turned out just fine.

My mom can be your mom's room mate in jail. She was known to sometimes leave us an hour in the car while she was chatting with the pharmacist. Keys were almost always in the car, because she always did put the car in front of someone's driveway (OK, you have to imagine a European city now, lol). We knew not to touch them and didn't touch it. We all survived (me and 2 brothers) and didn't get kidnapped.

 

[rgf207]

I sure as heck hope noone leaves a child asleep in their bed in another room in a house. Technically that child is unattended also. Where do we draw the line. the lady was feet away for minutes. This has gone too far

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I sure as heck hope noone leaves a child asleep in their bed in another room in a house. Technically that child is unattended also. Where do we draw the line. the lady was feet away for minutes. This has gone too far

Seriously, my friend's house is over 5,000 sq. ft. She abandons her child every time she leaves a room.

 

[PrincessPAC]

My mom can be your mom's room mate in jail. She was known to sometimes leave us an hour in the car while she was chatting with the pharmacist. Keys were almost always in the car, because she always did put the car in front of someone's driveway (OK, you have to imagine a European city now, lol). We knew not to touch them and didn't touch it. We all survived (me and 2 brothers) and didn't get kidnapped.

Is there room for my mom? She's a wonderful mom, but this is just an example of how times have changed. One time when I was about 8 or 9, my mom left me in the car (with the car running) to run into a CVS-type store. After a couple of minutes, I decided that I wanted to go in too. When I found my mom, she asked me if the car was still running. I said "yeah, but don't worry - I locked the doors."

It took forever to get the doors unlocked. The sad part is, my dad was a police officer at the time, so it was one of his colleagues who came to "jimmy" the lock.

My mom is so paranoid now (not just b/c of that one incident), and she would never do anything like that again. She's so much more protective of my children than she was of me.

 

[minnieandme]

I think it's an abuse of power. It's not like she went into the store and she was only 10 yards away. The baby was asleep and the car had the alarm on it so if anybody tried anything, she would've heard the alarm going off. They need to go after the ones who leave their babies in the car for hours in the summertime with the windows rolled up.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Definitely abuse of police power, IMHO.

I totally disagree that what she did was child endangerment.

I agree with you. This is very different than going on a shopping spree. She was right there, not in the store, and I assume within sight of the car. They need to put their efforts into catching and prosecuting the people who really put their children in danger, not this woman.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

First of all, we need to get the story straight. Unfortunately the OP chose to post an article from Fox News, of all sources. The mother said she was only a few feet away but many witnesses actually said that she was out of sight of the car for more than 10 mins, like Bburky502 said as well. So does this change anyone's opinion of this mother?

Also, let's assume for a minute that we all agree that leaving the child in the car unattended was okay because she was nearby. What about the other things that she did wrong? First of all, she chose to park illegally in a loading zone. Secondly, she obstructed a police officer, behaving very badly when the police confronted her. Thirdly, she locked the doors, took the keys, and left her child in the freezing cold sleeping without heat.

I realize that kids are capable of a great deal but I don't personally understand how a 2 year old gets out of a carseat.

I guess you'd be surprised to learn of all the cases when this happens. When I was 2 1/2 my mother, who was otherwise very responsible, left me sleeping in my car seat with the keys in the car while she ran in the house to get something that she needed to continue her errands. She was gone about five minutes. In that time, I woke up, managed to get out of my car seat, got in the driver's seat, and somehow ended up going into reverse until I hit the ditch behind me and the car stopped. Luckily, I was uninjured. But you can bet that my mother never left her children unattended again, no matter how nearby or where she was. And you can bet that I won't leave mine.

Total abuse of power to ARREST her and charge her with a crime. Now, if the officer had merely had a discussion with the woman to clarify the situation and/or advise her of the law or her personal opinion/experience with the matter, fine. I don't really have a problem with that. But arresting her and accusing her of child neglect??? Can you say, PSYCHO???

How do you know that the officer didn't try to simply have the conversation? According to reports, the big issue that led to her arrest wasn't neglect, it was the mother's behaviour when confronted by the police.

I guess when it comes down to it, that old saying, "Better safe than sorry," comes into play. Why take chances with your kids? For convienence?

 

[HelenePA]

I've left all 3 of my kids in the car to go to the pickup/order window of a local ice cream place, wonder if that cop saw me if I would have been arrested too?? Oh no one was injured during this episode. Oh my kids also go outside to play in the yard alone.. yes ALL alone.... Ya really can't be with your kids 24/7 and why would you want too??

 

[Cool-Beans]

If I were the judge, I'd toss the case out and put the cop and lawyer who brought it to me in jail for contempt. Asinine.

 

[SandraVB79]

Is there room for my mom? She's a wonderful mom, but this is just an example of how times have changed. One time when I was about 8 or 9, my mom left me in the car (with the car running) to run into a CVS-type store. After a couple of minutes, I decided that I wanted to go in too. When I found my mom, she asked me if the car was still running. I said "yeah, but don't worry - I locked the doors."

That just had me LOL!

 

[dcgrumpy]

First of all, we need to get the story straight. Unfortunately the OP chose to post an article from Fox News, of all sources. The mother said she was only a few feet away but many witnesses actually said that she was out of sight of the car for more than 10 mins, like Bburky502 said as well. So does this change anyone's opinion of this mother?

Also, let's assume for a minute that we all agree that leaving the child in the car unattended was okay because she was nearby. What about the other things that she did wrong? First of all, she chose to park illegally in a loading zone. Secondly, she obstructed a police officer, behaving very badly when the police confronted her. Thirdly, she locked the doors, took the keys, and left her child in the freezing cold sleeping without heat.




I guess you'd be surprised to learn of all the cases when this happens. When I was 2 1/2 my mother, who was otherwise very responsible, left me sleeping in my car seat with the keys in the car while she ran in the house to get something that she needed to continue her errands. She was gone about five minutes. In that time, I woke up, managed to get out of my car seat, got in the driver's seat, and somehow ended up going into reverse until I hit the ditch behind me and the car stopped. Luckily, I was uninjured. But you can bet that my mother never left her children unattended again, no matter how nearby or where she was. And you can bet that I won't leave mine.



How do you know that the officer didn't try to simply have the conversation? According to reports, the big issue that led to her arrest wasn't neglect, it was the mother's behaviour when confronted by the police.

I guess when it comes down to it, that old saying, "Better safe than sorry," comes into play. Why take chances with your kids? For convienence?

If she was only out of the car fro a few minutes the car would stil be warm.

I don't how old you are but carseats now are a lot harder to open than they were 20-30 years ago.

 

[jenm2878]

Wow, times have changed. I remember being left home alone when I was 8 or 9, and more then once I'd stay in the car while my mom ran into a store to run errands. She would leave me the keys so I could listen to the radio. Granted I wasn't a baby, but I was probably less then 10. (I'm 30 so this was in the 80's)

Recently we were helping a friend move, and his parents took his kids out for icecream so they'd be out of the way for a while. They came back and the two kids were sleeping in the car. They left the kids in the (locked) car in the driveway, and just looked out the window every 10 minutes or so to see if they were up. (Kids are 7 and 3 I think) Would they have gotten in trouble for doing this? Seems silly. There was a house full of adults 10 feet away.

 

[NYBlue1]

I disagree. Very rarely, I'm sure...but it happens. And a crime doesn't need to have been committed. Even a conscientious officer can believe one has been committed when it hasn't, either legally or factually (i.e., something is technically legal although the officer believes it isn't, or the person in question didn't actually commit the act specified at all). Or are you saying every single person EVER arrested has ACTUALLY committed a crime????

Like I said earlier in the thread, for the case to have come to the point that is did more than the original responding officer had to agree and sign off on the arrest. To get to the point where it was going to trial many others including DAs office had to be involved, things dont get to the point they did unless something was there to procecute.

News stories dont tell full facts and details of cases always, things get left out that if reported may put it all into perspective. Reguardless of opinion that this should have happened the way it did or should not have, the officer was doing their job, they should not be called to task for doing so and insulted like a criminal.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

If she was only out of the car fro a few minutes the car would stil be warm.

I don't how old you are but carseats now are a lot harder to open than they were 20-30 years ago.

But according to witnesses, which is why the cops came around in the first place, she was gone for at least ten minutes. I can't sit in the car in the winter without heat for that long.

Apparently children are still finding ways out of car seats. We still hear all kinds of stories.

 

[NYBlue1]

If I were the judge, I'd toss the case out and put the cop and lawyer who brought it to me in jail for contempt. Asinine.

Make sure you put the lawmakers in there that create the laws that the police and DAs office inforce. They are not making up laws as they go along because the feel like it.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

As far as the child being cold, wouldn't she have been colder outside where her mom and the other kids were?

 

[NYBlue1]

I sure as heck hope noone leaves a child asleep in their bed in another room in a house. Technically that child is unattended also. Where do we draw the line. the lady was feet away for minutes. This has gone too far

There is a big diffrence between kids being in their home and out in a car. I agree this went to far based on the news story alone. I dont think you can judge the story without all facts in.

Lets not get carried away with saing things like you cant leave a child in there bed without watching them, its silly and certainly not anywhere close to the original circumstance.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Make sure you put the lawmakers in there that create the laws that the police and DAs office inforce. They are not making up laws as they go along because the feel like it.

Enforce. With an "e".

Maybe it was one of those cops who don't know the laws, like the difference between "assault" and "battery"...you just never know sometimes.

 

[Beth76]

True...so many things CAN go wrong. But why tempt fate? Why make opportunites for things to go wrong? Yes...a line must be drawn or we'd all become shut-ins. But sometimes it's just better to play it safe in some situations.

We tempt fate everyday by driving our cars on a street with other cars. Or walking through a parking lot. Or leaving them with strangers at school.

There is a big diffrence between kids being in their home and out in a car. I agree this went to far based on the news story alone. I dont think you can judge the story without all facts in.

Lets not get carried away with saing things like you cant leave a child in there bed without watching them, its silly and certainly not anywhere close to the original circumstance.

Why isn't it the same? Why are theya automatically safer in a home? People break into homes and kidnap children. Children can wake up and wander out of the house.