Yeah, obviously the guy wasn't really thinking things through there. I'm certainly not defending his decision. But allow me to remove my Politically Correct hat for a moment and share a probably-unpopular opinion.
The outcome of the event is what surprised me a bit. It was not hot outside, nor was it dangerously hot in the car when the child was "rescued" by authorities--although he was admittedly "thirsty." But the father is now in jail, under investigation for second-degree felony child abuse. And after reading the comments left on the story, I guess I must be in the minority for thinking that the charges seem somewhat excessive.
I couldn't resist leaving a comment/troll under the pseudonym of "Tree hugger":
I too remember being left in the car sometimes for long stretches by my mom. It was boring as all get-out when she would spend an hour in the grocery store or the mall while I roasted out in the car, but I considered it better than being dragged along with her. She would leave the windows cracked, lock the car doors, and instruct me not to talk to strangers--so it was all good. But of course that was the mid-70s in the peaceful suburbs of Detroit, not the modern-day jungle of urban Utah. And I was probably a couple years older than the kid in this story, at least 4.
Now there's a little sarcasm in that paragraph, but I'm half serious too.
What this father did was selfish & stupid. But the comment "there's no cure for stupid" is true: stupid people will always do stupid things, and 99 times out of 100 their kids will survive despite them. News should focus more on societal injustices, and our courtrooms more on prosecuting violent crime & fraud, rather than this type of useless (but titillating) finger-wagging at incurably stupid/negligent people.
"But... THINK OF THE CHILDREN," you cry? Oh please.
Am I foolish for drawing a distinction here between violent/sexual abuse and... stupidity? I know there's a whole spectrum of abuse, but being stupid is not against the law. And it's not against the law for stupid people to procreate. Sure people need to be educated about what parenting decisions are okay and what are unacceptable. Maybe this prosecution "sends a message" to people. (Never mind that stupid people don't typically "get" this type of message.) But if we locked up (or sterilized!) all the stupid people in the country, we'd be living in a Dystopian nightmare, not watching one at the midnight movie.
What do you think? Was this guy's stupidity really criminal? Should they lock him up to "keep him off the streets?" Should they have locked up my Mom for leaving me in the car?
10 comments:
Wow! Breaking the 5 month blog silence for this story? Since I know the gory details of your life, I must say I find it a little odd that this is the story that sparked your blog-fire.
I agree that this seems a little...over kill but the bottom line is that it is illegal to leave your kid alone in the car now. It's illegal because too many kids got hurt, died or were kidnapped. I was also left in the car as a kid but times have changed and if nothing else this guy can serve as an example to others and 'remind' them that stupid or not, leaving your kid in the car is not acceptable. Especially not in the summer, in the desert, with the child at such a young age. He's young enough that he can either accidentally get out of the car on his own or not know how to get out on his own if he got too hot/hurt.
The father is a LAME dumb ass! It is his responsibility to know the laws and what are acceptable parenting practices. So I have to disagree, in this situation being dumb is against the law.
This gives me something interesting to ponder on besides housework and poopy diapers----very interesting points to consider----interesante---i am still mulling over all the points.
Wow Jen... tell us how you really feel! :-) Yeah, it's been a while since I blogged, but there's no better time than the present to start again, right? I commented on the news article, then thought what the heck... I'll blog about it too.
Are there actually laws on the books that explicitly state it is illegal to leave a child unattended in a vehicle? If so, then my bad, I didn't know. (Again, I'm NOT condoning the father's behavior, just wondering what good the charges against him can possibly do.)
But I will admit that the closet libertarian in me finds such a thing really crazy -- why do we insist on giving the government so much control/power over every little detail of our lives?
Lowell, I do agree that the law enforcement officers sometimes need to let the little stuff go and go after the big fish in the pond. However,I do think they were more than justified in arresting him and charging him as they did. A lot of these laws are enforced because of the slippery slope thing. Where do you draw the line. A parent may leave a few kids, much bigger than two to run in and pick up a prescription for another sick child...let's just say, and probably would not have been arrested, maybe just given a warning. However, going to satisfy his own selfish need to see a movie...hello...is bad and worthy of the charges. Leaving anyone in a car for over two hours waiting for you is thoughtless at the least. And a two year old...it's criminal.
In CA we had a case of a couple that left their five and three year old home for a three day weekend in Vegas after dropping off their dogs at a kennel. They left the kids with plenty of cereal and milk and the TV on and instructions not to open the door to anyone. Needless to say they got caught, arrested at the airport, charged and convicted.
That is the slippery slope and why he needed to be arrested.
So, I still say the guy was just stupid.
But Jen tells me there's a law in Utah expressly forbidding leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. If this is the case, then I have to agree that (according to the law) it was right to arrest the guy.
I still get fidgety at the idea of calling him a "Criminal."
But I suppose he's a criminal, insofar as anyone who intentionally or unintentionally breaks any law is likewise a criminal. Like, speeders are criminals too. And I would even agree that this guy is *way more* of a criminal than your run-of-the-mill speeder.
But I still maintain that this is a different category of crime than, say, bank robbery, or assault, or fraud, or even neglect. It is endangerment. It doesn't mean you hurt anyone, it means you were being stupid and could have hurt someone. It doesn't matter if you got lucky and didn't hurt anyone, you still get charged for a felony. And that just doesn't sit right with me. It strikes me as a "slippery slope", but the other way too. Where do we draw the line and stop letting the government impinge individual rights, just because the individual's behavior is perceived as risky, not because they have actually harmed another person? Something to think about.
You do have agood point there, Lowell. He was incredibly stupid and he got lucky tha tthe little boy lived, did not get kidnapped, etc. I do agree that the powers that be can get very into the business of those who do hsve peoperly functionng brains. I do understand where you are coming from on this.
I think that he was a complete idiot. He needs to suffer the consequences of his actions. However I don't think jail time is the answer. There are so many others who are deserving of a little r and r in our jails. For example molesters, rapists, drunk drivers, murderes etc. (These were written in no specific order.)
He was a selfish prick and really shouldn't be a father, but the kid is ok, luckily. So to labe him as a criminal I think may be to harsh.
I too was left in the car amny times growing up and lived to tell the tale.
Blah Blah Blah - SECOND DEGREE CHILD ABUSE - That is one big ugly tag to put on someone's record. I'm not condoning his behavior - remember he is male - and everyone concerned is lucky nothing happened - opps - something did happen - someone called the cops and threw his buttocks in jail! Now does his wife divorce him since she is now married to not only an idiot but a felony child abuser?!!! The child will grow up knowing this - need tons of counseling, become an Eagle Scout and then climb onto the tallest building in Salt Lake City and randomly shoot people with his ultra high powered rifle (the one he saw on Bourne Ultimatium) and then - if he survives - he will have to go to a court appointed psychiatrist for evaluation which will show that all this stemmed from him being left in the car alone for two hours while his abusive father when to the dollar movie theater. Unfortunately gone are the days when we could leave our kids in the car and run into the store - much less a movie - but I agree with Lowell - the guy should be charged with Second Degree Stupidity and have a big S tattooed on his forehead (backwards so he can see it clearly in the mirror) - The backwards S will alert everyone who sees his forehead just who they are dealing with. Maybe we could then scan the S and access just what incredibly stupid thing he had done. The government will make him register with the local police and he will have to notify them every time he moves. He will not be allowed to let his children on swings in case he leaves them there to long. Bottom line, I agree with Lowell, while what this guy did was not only against the law but extremely stupid, to charge him with felony child abuse (should have been endangerment anyway).
It's me contining my rant - To charge a father with felony child abuse was excessive.
Although considering the fact that his wife would have probably killed him he might be safer in custody.
What the police should have done was to remove the kid from the car - scared the s___ out of the guy when he couldn't find his kid and after he finally went to the police - they should have charged him with Stupidy and made him stay in a locked car for three days - with nothing to eat or drink - and NO DEPENDS! Oh, and no car keys, no communicating with anyone - and Stupid written on each side of the car. AND no Tylenol for his tatoo!
Maybe we should go back to placing people in stocks in the public square???
If he had been seeing a better movie than I may have considered his actions to be more acceptable. Just kidding, although, I do have the best hookup option for this guy---- Check it out at
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3884739
Maybe together they can do a better job at the parenting thing! Sometimes you just need that extra helping hand and it can make all the difference!
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