Mom leaves two-month old son in grocery cart outside in 104 temp

[Darrell KSR]

Prosecute?

Don't prosecute?

Any additional thoughts?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/phoenix-arizona-mom-cherish-peterson-left-baby-strapped-shopping-cart/

[Darrell KSR]

By the way, there are some trying to make a black - white thing out of it. Hmm.

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[kingcat]

Just a terrible mistake unless there is a history of neglect or abuse, or any reason to believe she could be lying about her intent. People make terrible mistakes...and everyone is capable of them.

I can understand how a probationary sentence could be in order however.

[Doc]

By the way, there are some trying to make a black - white thing out of it. Hmm.

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I forget stuff all the time. I took my car into the mechanic and forgot my dogs in the back once. The number of times I had my kids in the car and forgot to drop them off at school on the way to work, etc.... It happens. Considering the woman came back, its sort of obvious that she forgot. Now compare to a person who left two kids in the car while she went for a job interiew (see link which I assume is the black/white aspect)? Did the interviewee forget to drop them off, or was her plan to leave them in the car during the interview?

i never got the concept behind prosecution of something unintentional.

[CitizenBBN]

By the way, there are some trying to make a black - white thing out of it. Hmm.

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The difference is the mom who left her infant in the car during a job interview as I understand it KNEW she was doing it. She made a conscious decision, and that's way different from a mistake, even a terrible one.

It warrants investigation, and if the misdemeanor charge doesn't require intent maybe that's appropriate, but if there was no intent or reason to think there is a pattern of negligence I don't see a lot of charges here.

[suncat05]

Having dealt with situations like this before, everything that law enforcement needs to know will come out in a five minute field interview. After that five minutes of discussion an experienced officer will know if the act was intentional or accidental.
I think there should definitely be at least an information report made on the incident, just as a precautionary step and some CYA for the responding officer & his/her agency. Not sure that I'd want to even make a call to child protection services at this point, does not seem necessary.
I think that Mom was distracted by the other children to the point that she did forget about the child being in the shopping cart. I just do not see a crime here. This is life, and the stuff that just happens. Now, all of that being said, if somebody had abducted that child, or if the child would have suffered some sort of heat injury, then Mom is looking at being prosecuted for, at the least, some sort of child neglect charge.

[CitizenBBN]

suncat, that's what is lost in the modern big government, big information era. the truth is that in decades past the local LEO knew a lot more who people were, and if something was a real problem or just an honest mistake. They could use that judgement to keep things moving along without all the overhead.

it was imperfect of course, there was no doubt favoritism and such, but was it worse than the current "one size fits all" regulatory approach to everything? I doubt it.

[suncat05]

Oh, I concur, CBBN. Absolutely. This is where the experience factor comes into play for the initial responding officer. After you talk with her for a few minutes, you'll know if it was accidental or true neglect. All of the classic signs and body language will be present, one way or the other.
And that is why I said to make that information report. Sadly, that is the world we live in now. CYA.