Mom Arrested for Leaving Toddler in Car

HERE'S WHAT I THINK

Mom Arrested for Leaving Toddler in Car

A Tinley Park, IL Mom of three was arrested for child endangerment for leaving her sleeping 2 year old in her locked car parked on the curb about 30 feet from where she and her other two daughters were donating money saved to a Salvation Army kettle.

Not only did the toddler fall asleep in the car seat but it was icy out and Mom didn't want to slip and fall with her baby in her arms. She knew she wouldn't be long and the car was locked and in view so she didn't think too much about it.

Mom was arrested in front of her daughters and charged with a misdemeanor. This family has since been visited by DCFS and are now on their list. It has caused a heated debate even though IL law states that a child left in a car for 10 minutes could be cause for a misdemeanor. According to the story, the child was not left this long.

I feel the arresting community police officer (from Crestwood, IL, where this occurred) was wrong and Cook County prosecutors agreed. They have dropped the charges. I'm so glad they did and I hope this family can get their life back to normal.

Have you ever left a sleeping child in a car to perform a quick task? I don't mean for 10 minutes or longer, but a minute or so.

Who do you think was wrong? Remember, the car was 30 feet away, parked by the curb, locked and with the hazard lights on.

YOUR TURN!

Mom Arrested for Leaving Toddler in Car

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Yes, you're right!

No way, Monkeybrain!

Keith says:

One should always use good judgement and act on the side of caution when dealing with the safety of there children. What seems like an simple harmless situation could change without warning in an instant. The act of kindness didn't have to be done at the moment it was done. It was not a emergency or a life threatening situation. One discovers quickly that children especially young children will make many simple tasks complicated ones. The fact of the matter is the woman and her other daughters could themselves have been assaulted , hit by a car, and so on... The car itself could have been struck by another vehicle. Things happen every second that are unpredicted. Granted any of these things I've mentioned could just as easily happen with the mother in the car with the child and vice versa, but do you really want to live with the consequences of leaving the child alone. I don't.

Posted July 17, 2008