Lethbridge women charged after leaving their children in car for an hour

[calgaryblood]

http://calgary.ctvnews.ca/mobile/let...hour-1.3206394

Lethbridge police have charged the mothers of a three-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy after they left them unattended inside a locked vehicle while they were inside a nearby bar.
At about 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, police were called to a report of a child crying inside a locked vehicle parked in the 200 block of 5 Street S.

Can't believe somebody could be so stupid let alone 2 people. Hopefully they never see these children again.

[undercoverbrother]

1 is fine, but 2 is ridiculous

[Buff]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

1 is fine, but 2 is ridiculous

No, it is not fine. It is never fine.

I don't know what it is like anymore but that once was the place to go when you were underage. I think it is still a place with sketchy patrons.

[Acey]

Charge carries a minimum sentence of 18 months to a max of 5 years... but Canada. As long as they lose custody of the children I don't really care what else the sentence entails.

A Facebook commenter alleges that she was in the bar when police entered, and they were indeed drinking, the implication being that one of them was about to drive impaired (though that is somewhat secondary to the fact that they almost killed their children)

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Buff

No, it is not fine. It is never fine.

I don't know what it is like anymore but that once was the place to go when you were underage. I think it is still a place with sketchy patrons.

I am 100% sure he was joking.

But yeah, that is terrible that someone would do that.

[Fuzz]

Is it really so hard to get some booze from the liquor store and drink at home? I have no idea how this makes any sense.

[nixon45]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Is it really so hard to get some booze from the liquor store and drink at home? I have no idea how this makes any sense.

Who wants to wait till they get all the way home? Just have it on the way and make the kids hold the wheel.

[troutman]

-21 C for one hour in the car.

[calgaryblood]

The punishment should be locked in a car in this weather for 8 hours plus losing their kids and the ability to reproduce in the future.

[speede5]

So based on this singular event they should be drawn and quartered and 2 kids should be motherless for life. Wow. That will accomplish so much.

They need serious punishment, absolutely, and taking away the kids til they prove competent is reasonable, but wouldn't people be better off if their behavior was corrected? Whose going to take care of these kids if the government takes them for good?

[CliffFletcher]

Yeah, the demands to take the kids away are knee-jerk.

First, would that really be best for the kids - being taken away from their parents and sent to home to live with strangers? Are they subject to chronic and sustained abuse? We don't know.

And second, we don't have the capacity. If every child in Alberta who was exposed to this level of negligence was taken away from their parents we'd need to quadruple the number of foster homes in the province. Honestly - where do people think kids taken away from their parents end up? How many people in this thread are willing to take in and raise 5 and 7 year old kids who have had neglected and vulnerable upbringings? None, I suspect.

[Locke]

I just dont get where people think this is okay.

I get the idea that they want to pop off to the pub for a bit, but they seriously cant have a family member watch their kids? Pay for a babysitter?

There has to have been an alternative to "welp, they're just going to have to sit in the car."

[llwhiteoutll]

It appears the kids are being looked after by family right now.

A stiff prison sentence, mandatory parenting classes and a period of random checks by the government would probably be appropriate. Once released, the court can also impose restrictions that all their interaction with the children be supervised by another adult and that they abstain from alcohol.

Removal of the kids isn't the right answer, but these two women need a good wake up call.

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yeah, the demands to take the kids away are knee-jerk.

First, would that really be best for the kids - being taken away from their parents and sent to home to live with strangers? Are they subject to chronic and sustained abuse? We don't know.

And second, we don't have the capacity. If every child in Alberta who was exposed to this level of negligence was taken away from their parents we'd need to quadruple the number of foster homes in the province. Honestly - where do people think kids taken away from their parents end up? How many people in this thread are willing to take in and raise 5 and 7 year old kids who have had neglected and vulnerable upbringings? None, I suspect.

Don't disagree with your second point, but the first point is certainly up for discussion.

The major concern here is obviously about parental judgement, and what that entails for future parenting issues which could harm the children. The mom clearly wasn't thinking of the best interests of the kids and put them in an extremely dangerous situation, just so that she could go and.....party? Where there is smoke, there is usually fire in these circumstances.

The knee jerk reaction here is certainly a justifiable sentiment with such an egregious example of neglect.

[calgaryblood]

If you leave your children alone in a car while at a bar in this weather you will never be a good parent.

They absolutely should lose their children for life.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yeah, the demands to take the kids away are knee-jerk.

I'll clarify that when I said they should lose custody, I meant in the context that I think at the very least they should serve time, ideally the 18 month minimum this charge is supposed to bring. I'm not of the opinion they should never see the children again.

[Oling_Roachinen]

We're talking about a 31 year old and 24 year old. They know that children can freeze in this type of weather and they still left their children in the car for over an hour. Who knows how long the children would have been left if not for the phone call to police. They put their children's life at risk for a couple of beers.

These are the exact type of people that should have their children removed from them.

[IGGYFORMVP]

At least my dad let me keep the keys. What a couple of ######s. You would think this kind of #### was a thing of the past.

[CliffFletcher]

People here are vastly underestimating the number of complete #####-ups who have kids. We can't take all of their kids away because we don't have thousands of safe and healthy homes in this province just waiting to take in kids who are themselves often messed up. We just don't.

[Knut]

The biggest problem the world faces is that stupid people have more kids than smart people do.