Mom arrested, charged with felony for letting son walk to park alone.

a reply to: crazyeddie68

I remember. Walking from home to school(some 1.5miles away) everyday from when I was 6 til I reach middle school.I seriously don't think 7yrs old is too young to walk a half mile to the park.but that's just my humble opinion

Expect this case to be dropped...

As for Nicole Gainey, she told WPTV that she plans to fight the felony charge, but that might not be necessary. The news network recently posted an update to the story online, noting that an official from the Florida Department of Children and Families told the mom she could "expect the case to be dropped."

Good!

www.huffingtonpost.com...

when i was 7 i would come home from school, grab my tackle equipment, and spend the night at the lake fishing. Its what i did just about every night that was warm enough.

My typical range was about 10 square miles.

A half mile? If that isn't safe, then the police should worry about making it safe, not about instilling fear..

This really angers me.

The reason why is simple. Port St. Lucie is my hometown. I spent the first 25 years of my life living in that city, and when I was a child I played at Sportsman park often. It is not in an even remotely bad part of town, though it is along what has become a main artery. My point is, when I was his age I was at least half a mile away unsupervised on any day I wasn't in school. I had to check in with my Mom every hour via phone call or stopping by the house, starting at about the age of nine I would even ride my bike 1.5 miles so I could go to Eckerd Drugstore to buy my comic books. No one ever questioned what I was doing or why I was alone....

I'm not sure which is the actual issue, is the world so dangerous now that this is necessary? Or are people just overly paranoid puddles of pee when it comes to unattended children now?

My daughter is nine and I still hardly let her out of my sight, mostly because of insane "hellicopter" parents who will report you with little to no reason. This is Florida, there are insects everywhere... one crawled out of my daughters backpack at school and they assumed we had an infestation at our house and called DCF.... TWICE!! The social workers weren't even sure why they were called once they were in our home and saw that other than kids toys everywhere our house was clean and safe. However, I digress, it's hard to believe that the 80's was so long ago that our children can't even do the simplest things we did that brought us joy doing on our own.

I'm rambling now... long story short, it's my hometown and this disturbing news is angering and makes me sad.

originally posted by: AutumnWitch657
Hey dude I understand that. You never outgrow that concern for your children. You just have to grin and bear it when the time for freedom comes around. What are you going to do when she starts dating? Or are you going to tell her she can start dating when she goes off to college ? LOL.



Now that my son's are all grown I worry about them getting their heart broken.

a reply to: crazyeddie68

Ugh! Dating...Karma really is a b#tch!,lol!

I get what you are saying about trusting kids AutumnWitch657,and you are right.Its just everyone else that scares me.

How can children learn to judge real danger if they never get the chance?
If we treat them like this they will go through life dependent on the nanny state....but then, thats the purpose of such laws isn't it!

When I was a kid as soon as my little legs hit the ground I was gone! I had no boundaries because I didn't tell my parents where I went, thats what kids do.....or used to do!

Back in the "good old days" a typical day went something like this.
First child in the neighborhood that escaped in the morning went to the next childs house, those two then went to the next childs house, and so on......soon we were a group of about eight or ten kids.

On leaving our houses parents would say
"Dont talk to strangers"
"Be back before the street lights switch on"
"Look after your brother/sister"
"Have you changed your underpants"

I dont ever remember any kid coming to harm, other than cuts and bruises.

I think in cases like the op the system has caused more harm than ever would have happened to that child had they left them alone.

a reply to: gladtobehere
Most localities in America have rules on parental supervision with ages and everything, the thing is they are rarely enforced and most parents have zero clue that they could be breaking the law, most places put the bar at around 11 or 12 when kids can actually be out for extended periods in public without supervision, the problem has nothing to do with harassing parents, it really is putting personal responsibility upon the adults of very young children , not making it the communities liability if something were to happen to that child.

If there is an ordinance spelling out what this parent did as being either neglectful or criminal then here we go again, ignorance of the law is no excuse, In my own opinion look at the stats, kids get snatched up or abducted way too often, a 7 year old has no business out by themselves with no parent to look out for their welfare, just that simple, it's always ok until you see those people on the news when something bad happens to their tot, these people are all bent out of shape wondering how or why something could have happened, the reason is they were not doing everything they could to look out for their child's welfare.

a reply to: gladtobehere

Arresting the mother is stupid.

Now, having said that, I wouldn't have permitted my 7 year old to do that. I looked at the map. The road alone would have made that a no for me-- not to mention the half mile distance.



To each his own.

a reply to: gladtobehere

They need to arrest every parent in my town because we walked home from school at that age.

a reply to: gladtobehere

Allowing a 7yr old to walk that distance to the park may be stupid, but it's not a crime. Man we're way down the rabbit hole in every area of life.

wow if that was my dad he would be doing life in jail by this time...i used to go much much further on my bike when i was that age...

what a waste of police resources

originally posted by: wildapache
a reply to: crazyeddie68

I remember. Walking from home to school(some 1.5miles away) everyday from when I was 6 til I reach middle school.I seriously don't think 7yrs old is too young to walk a half mile to the park.but that's just my humble opinion

I was just thinking the same thing. From 1st grade on I walked to school, sometimes alone, sometimes with my Mom if she needed to go downtown at the same time, and I always walked home alone. One day I walked home alone because I got a suspected concussion at school and my folks were at work, so I walked home to grandma's house (she lived 3 houses away from us at the time)

a reply to: gladtobehere

Times have sure changed. Back in the 60's kids would flock to the neighborhood park by themselves to play with their friends, me included. You would than hear your mother yelling a block away it's time to come home for dinner! Some mother's had a good set of lungs on them. My mother got tired of yelling and bought one of those Salvation Army bells she would ring, lol.

It was a safer and more innocent time back in the day. Many of our mother's would probably be behind bars today.

I was this kids age back in 1990 or so. In 1990 crime was much higher than today and so were child abductions. We never had any problems. I would walk that distance every day, across busy roads to get to a school bus stop. I remember at 10 I was taking the public bus on my own to the water park on the weekend while my parents were at work.

The mom didn't do anything unreasonable here and when people started asking too many questions the kid did the right thing and ran. If anything that's good parenting.

a reply to: TonyS
This happened to my daughter. She was sleeping, with her 9 month old baby. Her husband took the 3 year old to the Walmart. It was 10pm. He got into an accident, and they summoned her to the hospital. I took her, because their only vehicle had just been crashed.

When we got there, they charged her with neglect for ALLOWING him to take the 3 year old to the store at 10 at night, and seized the 9 month old. She didn't even know he left and went to Walmart, because she was sleeping. This, they claim, is where the neglect came in. How do you watch the kids 24/7? How do you not trust your spouse? The whole thing seemed almost absurdly funny, had it not been so horrifyingly, shockingly, REAL.

They then made her jump through impossible hoops, forced them to divorce, she could not get the babies back if he was living with her, because of his "greivous negligence". Seems all would have been fine, had it been daylight. Somehow, that it was 10pm, and she "should have been in bed asleep". Says who?! They were not allowed to speak on the phone, nor have any contact. He had to literally leave the state as one of their "conditions".

All the while she was living alone, paying her rent, paying all her bills, they made her take drug tests twice a month for one year which she had to pay for, (Note: for no reason, she had not failed any drug test, nor did they have a reason to test her, it was just another way to make her spend 40.00 twice a month), take parenting classes, which she had to pay for, and go to counseling once a month. She only got once monthly supervised visitation, and was paying 800.00 a month in child support. She made too much to qualify for any assistance, ESPECIALLY because the kids were gone.

After one year, after completing everything, financially draining us and her, they kept pulling, every 3-6 months, MORE hurdles, hoops, and costs, out of thin air.

They constantly drug it out, telling her, "You will get the kids back in 2 more months, if you just do this!"

Then, each time, they would come up with something new. After one year, they raised the child support to 1200.00 a month. Already finacially at the edge of what we could muster, that was it. The end.

Then, at the same time, she lost her job. There was nothing she, or we, could do, and they forced her to sign custody over to the state. She was evicted, because they took all of her money, and she could not pay her rent. "Well, you certainly cannot get them back if you have no place to live!" After she got a new job, "Well, you have to live there for 6 months with no late bills or late rent, THEN you can get them back!" Who makes this crap up?! Have you seen homeless women with children? I know I have...

The children, my grandchildren, were adopted out, and even then, they continued to take every penny she had from bank accounts, etc., even seized her paychecks when she got a new job, even though she had given up custody, and they had been adopted.

She had to sue them to get her money back. The judge only gave her two months in back support, though they stole over 6 months. The courts DID give her an attorney, but even he was useless against the power known as DFACS.

This is all designed to make it impossible for families to get their kids back. It is designed to drain every penny, and DFACS now forces the parents, not taxpayers, to pay support.

If you are unemployed, once you get a job, they instantly garnish you for back payments.

They destroyed her and her husbands' lives, and stole her babies, my grandchildren, from our arms, and there was literally NOTHING we could do. Nothing.

To this day, four years later, I still do not know who had my grandbabies, or if they are dead or alive. I am not allowed to, because I speak to my daughter.

Back in the day 7 year olds were busy working not playing. And you didn't have to worry about someone abducting them because they carried guns and knew how to use them. Kids back then were more mature than most adults these days. No wonder kids are so lazy these days and refuse to move out of mommy and daddy's basement, we baby them too much.

a reply to: Libertygal

What an absolute nightmare. My best friend & her sister almost ended up that way as kids themselves, all because their dad fabricated abuse claims during the divorce from their mom. The state had zero proof of any abuse whatsoever, but still took him at his (and only his) word. They ended up with an ultimatum of "Live with your dad, or it's foster care." For about a year, their mom had to jump through countless hoops to prove she was competent as a parent, had to pay CS, pay for classes, etc. For 6 months, she couldn't even have supervised visits, she was bared from seeing or contacting them at all. The kicker is, while this was going on & they were made to live with dear ol' dad, he was beating the older one, and one of the paternal side cousins was molesting her. The salt in the wound was the state ignored her about both claims. I don't know who the system was designed for, but it's not for the kids' well being

a reply to: Libertygal

Your grand kids where adoptable. I called CPS one time on a kid that for 3 months straight ran around the neighborhood in crap coated, to small shorts. Never changed in 3 months. The kids also had huge sores on his head from the untreated lice. Mom was a meth head and I suspect a prostitute. I stood behind the wall and listened to the social workers who came out say and I quote.

"This kid isn't adoptable, he would cost us to much money for all the psychological help he would need. No adoption bonus for us so lets just leave him."

Started doing research because a year or two before that a friend lost her kids because she attacked the man she caught molesting her daughter. Her kids were adopted out, because she behaved in the same manner any loving parent would do.

That is partially how I ended up on ATS.

Your grand kids were loved and well adjusted so highly adoptable.

a reply to: calstorm
All I have left now, is the hope that the 3 year old remembers us and her mom and dad, and when she is old enough, she comes looking for us with her baby sister. All DFACS did tell me was they were adopted together.

And, you are right. They were very much loved, happy, well taken care of and smothered in love from their mommy, especially. I know the 3 year old will remember her. They were very close.

I wad so confused, bitter, angry, and this is the first time I have spoken of it, because of a broken heart. It drastically changed our lives, broke our backs and our bank accounts. And you are especially right when you said all we ever did or said was what any parents or grandparents that loved those babies would. And everything in our behaviour was classified as "wrong".

I felt like I was in an upside down world, where everything that was right was wrong and vice versa. It was a comedy of errors. Like I said, it would have been absurdly funny, if it had not been so horrifyingly real.

I can only imagine that's how this mother felt, as well, when this all started, too.

Thanks for relaying what you experienced. As I said, I haven't spoken about it/written about it, I have avoided it, because the pain was significant.

Reading stories like this tends to bring it all crashing back in.

Those damned "other people" LOLa reply to: crazyeddie68