Philadelphia - At around 1 a.m. Sunday, a minivan pulled up to a house and parked. A man, woman and 4 children all got out, went inside and went to bed. Well, almost everyone. The couple left their 5-year-old niece in the locked vehicle where she stayed for 9 hours. Police were called around 10 a.m. about reports of a girl screaming.
When police arrived, they found the little girl to be incoherent and warm to the touch. She was taken to Temple Children’s Hospital and has since been released. She was picked up by relatives and taken back home. Her aunt and her boyfriend are now facing possible child endangerment and assault charges and are currently in custody.
The 5-year-old is from Maryland and was visiting the couple. It is being reported that she was unfamiliar with the area and that is why she did not attempt to get out of the car at night.
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14 responses so far ↓
1
txchick
Jul 1, 2008 at 9:58 am -i say lock them in the car for 9 hours………idiots!!!!
2
WryBread
Jul 1, 2008 at 10:57 am -Too many kids? I’d say you have too many kids if you can’t keep track of them. I hope this stupid couple gets themselves sterilized — they just failed the Parenting Test.
3
funkmama
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:05 pm -I feel sorry for those kids, but they obviously shouldn’t be allowed to stay with their parents. They’re lucky this story didn’t have a worse ending…
4
Athena
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:14 pm -I’m not so convinced. In plenty of cases, parents aren’t charged with anything if the situation is clearly accidental, even if injury is worse than that. I’m not sure that throwing them in jail and taking their kids away is reasonable, unless there is something about this incident that qualifies as criminal neglect (i.e. - were the adults drunk? on drugs?).
5
Ruby
Jul 1, 2008 at 12:23 pm -You all are talking about parental neglect. This wasn’t the parents. This said she was the NIECE and staying with them. She’s visiting.
It’s hard for me to imagine how you take your kids out of a vehicle and forget one, but I also CAN imagine that she wasn’t part of their bedtime rituals, and they could have overlooked it. Stupid, but not necessarily criminal.
6
SNOOKIE
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:06 pm -unbelievable
7
thepooh5
Jul 1, 2008 at 1:15 pm -I’m with you, Ruby on this one. I can see how they may have missed the “extra” child. I don’t see this as criminal or intentional - they very well could have just “forgot”, in this particular situation. I’m thankful the child was safe and only scared, instead of the usual outcome.
8
silvahalo68
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:55 pm -I don’t agree…I don’t care if you have 12 kiddos your or not, come bedtime you count heads and say goodnight. They are adults and should have known better. The ending could have been fare worse…they got off easy. Maybe not criminal but really, really stupid. ..they won’t make this mistake again.
9
silvahalo68
Jul 1, 2008 at 11:58 pm -I don’t care if you have 12 kiddos. Come bedtime you count heads and say goodnight. They are adults and should have known better. The ending could have been far worse…they got off easy. They won’t make this mistake again.
10
WryBread
Jul 2, 2008 at 9:51 am -This child was a guest! And the adults weren’t pay some special attention to her to see that she was comfortable, having a good time, and so forth? Not one of the kids mentioned that their visitor wasn’t in the house?
These people are not forgetful “oops!” only bought four ice cream cones types — they are no better than the couple that left their retarded kid in the van to die. Just luckier. The fact that they were used to only four kids in what must be an unregulated deluge of a homelife does not excuse them for not noticing that they were supposed to have five that night.
11
thepooh5
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:08 am -I agree, they are not excused. I’m just saying, I don’t see any intent or malicious behavior. Sure, they were as dumb as a box of rocks, but I can see HOW this could occur without there being criminal intent. Damn right, they should have known there were 5 instead of 4 kids that evening. They do not get a pass or an excuse.
I just don’t see the usual evil, maliciousness that we usually see in the stories featured here, on the DD. I think these people were slack. I think the couple that let poor Jason die, were tired of taking care of him. I think there is a difference between the two cases - not an excuse, but different reasons that it occurred.
12
WryBread
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:19 am -The outcome could have been the same and I would blame stupid carelessness just as harshly as murder. It’s not as if the girl wouldn’t have been quite so dead because her relatives didn’t intentionally treat her as expendable. And if I were her parents I’d sure see something as bad as malicious intent in their careless failure to take good care of my daughter when she visits them.
13
thepooh5
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:29 am -Don’t get me wrong Wry, let me change my wording a bit. I’d be very angry at them, too. In fact, a little ass kicking is in order. I’m just saying, I don’t think they planned or intended to harm the girl. Were they careless and stupid? Hell, yes! Would I ever, ever let my child stay with them again? No way!
All I was saying was, I feel that Jason’s parents were looking for some “tragic accident” to happen and made one. I think this particular case, falls in the top 3 things of stupid things that people do. I just don’t think they planned it or intended for it to happen. They should have been more vigilant in their babysitting duties, by all means. The are accountable and responsible, just not intentionally motivated.
14
solange822001
Jul 2, 2008 at 11:06 am -I have to agree with Wry on this one. Although I’m sure it was not an intentional act to leave the child in the minivan, they chose to be neglectful. That is a HUGE mistake to make, that isn’t something that happens to the average human being (oops, didnt notice that a kid Im taking care of was missing for an entire night). This is a freaking FIVE year old. My son is 7 and he still requires my concern and attention at least once an hour (dinner, bedtime, etc.) How do TWO people not notice that one of the kids in their care is missing at bedtime? Really put yourself in that situation, think how that could be possible for a normal human being to do. Even if it’s not your kids, how do you forget about a little five year old? Something is wrong with these folks, and if the parents even THINK of letting them take care of kids again, I think they should have their kids taken from them immediately and permanently.
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