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Title: 11-Year-Old Boy Played in His Yard. CPS Took Him, Felony Charge for Parents.
Source:
Reason
URL Source: https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/11/ ... d-boy-played-in-his-yard-cps-t
Published: Jun 11, 2015
Author: Lenore Skenazy
Post Date: 2015-06-12 10:16:04 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 2302
Comments: 24
One afternoon this past April, a Florida mom and dad I'll call Cindy and Fred could not get home in time to let their 11-year-old son into the house. The boy didn't have a key, so he played basketball in the yard. He was alone for 90 minutes. A neighbor called the cops, and when the parents arrived—having been delayed by traffic and rain—they were arrested for negligence. They were put in handcuffs, strip searched, fingerprinted, and held overnight in jail. It would be a month before their sons—the 11-year-old and his 4-year-old brother—were allowed home again. Only after the eldest spoke up and begged a judge to give him back to his parents did the situation improve. I spoke with Cindy about her family’s horrible ordeal. "My older one was the so-called 'victim,'" she said during a phone interview. But since she and her husband were charged with felony neglect, the younger boy had to be removed from the home, too. Here is the law: "A person who willfully or by culpable negligence neglects a child without causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the child commits a felony of the third degree." I first heard of Cindy's case last week when she wrote to me at Free-Range Kids. Her email explained: The authorities claim he had no access to water or shelter. We have an open shed in the back yard and 2 working sinks and 2 hoses. They said he had no food. He ate his snacks already. He had no bathroom, but the responding officer found our yard good enough to relieve himself in while our son sat in a police car alone. In his own yard, in a state, Florida, that has no minimum age for children to be alone. The children were placed in foster care for two days while the state ran a background check on a relative who was willing to take them in. "Our first choice was my mother," said Cindy. "But she lives in another state and so the kids would have been in foster care even longer until they cleared her." The parents decided to have them placed with a slightly problematic in-state relative instead. On the day they all appeared in children's court to move the kids from foster care into the relative's custody, Cindy thought her older son smelled a little strange. "What have you been eating?" she asked. "Cereal," he replied. Only cereal, for the past few days. That's not going to kill anyone, obviously. But if you're arresting parents for not supervising their kids for 90 minutes, it's more than a little hypocritical. The boys went off with the relative. As Cindy and Fred were charged with a felony, they couldn't cross the county line to go see them and the relative refused to bring them to visit. But after a few weeks, she got tired of taking care of the kids. "Unbeknownst to us," said Cindy, "she was putting them back in state custody." That's when Child Protective Services asked the court to place the boys in foster care. Last Tuesday, Cindy, Fred, their two kids, their lawyer, and a lawyer for CPS appeared again in children's court. The opposing lawyers went into the judge's chambers and came out every so often. The family's lawyer explained what was going on. "They were arguing on whether or not the kids should go to foster care or with us,” said Cindy. This went on for hours. But then, according to Cindy, "My son spoke up." He said he wanted to talk to the judge. Surprised, their lawyer asked the boy: Did he have the courage to go through with this? And would he tell the truth? The boy said yes. "He went back there and spoke to the judge for about ten minutes," said Cindy. "And then the judge came out and called the two lawyers to the bench and talked to them for about 10 or 15 minutes. And with that, our lawyer came to us and said that if we admitted that we didn't know that it was wrong to [let our son] stay in the backyard, but that we know now that it's wrong and we will never let it happen again, and that we will explain this to our son, he would let the children come with us." Cindy and Fred promised. The judge released the kids and closed the case. But that is not the end. That was civil court. Next, Cindy and Fred will head to criminal court to plead "not guilty" to the neglect charge. Naturally, they hope the entire case will be dropped. In the meantime, to comply with all of the CPS dictates, Cindy and Fred are attending parenting classes. They are also going to therapy. The kids are attending "play" therapy. This summer, as part of the deal, the older boy must attend day camp. The younger must attend day care. The reason, Cindy thinks, is that years ago there was a girl who disappeared while in foster care and it turned out that no one had been keeping track of her whereabouts. If kids attend day camp or daycare, their whereabouts will always be accounted for. I asked Cindy how she and the kids spent last summer. "We did little projects, we would go to the beach," she said. Or they would visit dad at work. She had been planning to enjoy another low key summer with them. Instead, she will be at home while her kids are in a program mandated by the state. Cindy and Fred cannot be sure who called the cops and turned their lives upside down. (They have their suspicions.) But they do know who told them they needed to take parenting classes, get therapy, and promise never to let their kids play in their own backyard without a watchman again. They know who took their children away. And you know, too. 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 11.
#1. To: TooConservative, redleghunter, CZ82, Liberator, hondo68, sneakypete, A K A Stone, Excalibur, Operation 40, Orwellian Nightmare, Fred Mertz, misterwhite, Gatlin, GrandIsland, State worshipers and nanny-staters (#0)
The nosy ratfink Gladys Kravitz couldn't be bothered to, oh gee - I don't know, maybe go over and ASK the kid if he's OK? He had no bathroom, but the responding officer found our yard good enough to relieve himself in while our son sat in a police car alone. Once again, a cop does something (public urination) that any serf would be arrested for. Nah....no double standard there. "If you're not cop, you're little people" Is it any wonder why more and more people are beginning to people despise these hypocritical, arrogant pricks?
I've begun to think that we should eliminate anonymous reporting. Too many habitual tattletales and nannies out there, thrilled to call the cops on anyone for any dubious reason. It seems to me that people do have some right to face their accusers, not get roasted by the PD based on anonymous complaints.
...to include the anonymous reporting of alleged incidents that can in NO way be verified and probably published anonymously to promote an agenda. I have tired unsuccessfully to verify this story.
Reason is no Free Thought Project. They have a good track record.
I have tired unsuccessfully to verify this story. Reason is no Free Thought Project. They have a good track record. Reason didn’t write the story and no author who works for them did. Reason simply picked up the story, as others did, to use it as a tool to promote their agenda. The story was written by Michael Krieger, the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog.
#15. To: Gatlin (#11)
(Edited)
You're really grasping at straws. 11-Year-Old Boy Played in His Yard. CPS Took Him, Felony Charge for Parents. An interview with two parents who lost their kids... over nothing. Lenore Skenazy|Jun. 11, 2015 11:35 am Reason. Reason simply picked up the story, as others did, to use it as a tool to promote their agenda. The story was written by Lenore Skenazy at Reason. The story was written by Michael Krieger, the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog. That site, and others which are concerned with promoting Liberty (to you, a concept that is like a cross to a vampire) simply reposted the original story... unfortunately Kreiger did not give the proper credit. However, he did credit Reason for the story. It would be a month before their sons—the 11-year-old and his 4-year-old brother—were allowed home again. Only after the eldest spoke up and begged a judge to give him back to his parents did the situation improve. – From the Reason article: 11-Year-Old Boy Played in His Yard. CPS Took Him, Felony Charge for Parents More About the Florida Kids Taken Away Because The Boy, 11, Was Playing Alone in His Yard Yesterday I ran an interview with the Florida mom whose children were removed from their home for a month after a neighbor reported the family to Child Protective Services because their 11-year-old son was left outside by himself for 90 minutes. This story is so incredible, some people almost can’t believe it—and I can see why. It is as crazy as Maryland’s Child Protective Services accusing Danielle and Alexander Meitiv of negligence for letting their kids walk home from the park in Silver Spring. Unfortunately, sometimes this kind of thing happens. But when it is sufficiently publicized, change can happen—which is why publicizing these cases is important. And in fact, as Donna St. George reported in yesterday’s Washington Post, Maryland’s CPS has just issued new guidelines, saying, “Children playing outside or walking unsupervised does not meet the criteria for a CPS response absent specific information supporting the conclusion that the child has been harmed or is at substantial risk of harm if they continue to be unsupervised.” The parents from yesterday’s story—”Cindy” and “Fred”—want their anonymity preserved. They don’t want to provoke the government officials handling their case, and Cindy has very real concerns that she would lose her job if her identity was revealed. But to quell the idea that this couldn’t have really happened, here is page 1 of the county court documents ordering the children to be removed from their home. (I blacked out anything I thought might reveal their identities. The full, unredacted document has been viewed by Reason editors.) ******* Michael Krieger is strictly agenda driven. Michael Krieger is a blogger trying to effect positive change in an increasingly authoritarian and plutocratic United States through his website libertyblitzkrieg.com. It's really beyond pathetic that you believe that "seeking to effect positive change" is not a worthwhile goal. Everyone has an agenda - for some it is seeking truth and promoting freedom and pointing out the actions of corrupt govenrment officials and crooked, psychotic cops. For you and others of your miserable ilk, the agenda is to defend cops at all costs, deny government wrongdoing and corruption and to submissively genuflect at the altar of the State.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestA neighbor called the cops, and when the parents arrived—having been delayed by traffic and rain—they were arrested for negligence.
#2. To: Deckard (#1)
The nosy ratfink Gladys Kravitz couldn't be bothered to, oh gee - I don't know, maybe go over and ASK the kid if he's OK?
#4. To: TooConservative (#2)
I've begun to think that we should eliminate anonymous reporting...
#5. To: Gatlin (#4)
I have tired unsuccessfully to verify this story.
#11. To: TooConservative (#5)
Replies to Comment # 11. Reason didn’t write the story and no author who works for them did.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 11.
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