We have repeatedly dealt with stories of parents who leave their children in cars while they gamble or party (here) or even commit criminal acts(here). This week, another such arrest was made near our school but this one involves clearly affluent parents who left their two toddlers — a 22-month-old boy and a slightly older girl — in a gray Volvo wagon while they went to a wine tasting at the upscale restaurant Ris. I hope the wine bouquet was satisfying because “the finish” was rough. They were both arrested and now face two counts of attempted second-degree cruelty to children, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
Christopher (“Christophe”) Daniel Lucas told police that he left an iPhone in the car with an open connection to the children’s mother, Jennie Teresa Chang. However, police say that the girl was crying hysterically and that the temperature was 35 degrees in a car that was turned off with no heat.
The car was left around a corner from the restaurant and around 400 feet from the door in a major traffic area. The manager said that the couple had been wine tasting for about an hour when police arrived.
Lucas, 41, and Chang, 46, own a $1 million rowhouse near Dupont Circle. They actually live 10 minutes from the restaurant and insisted that they were going out to check on the kids.
The court released the couple but they are being denied access to their children.
Notably, Washington seems to be on a theme regarding parenting and the criminal code. We just discussed a question of whether parents should be charged for allowing their children to walk home alone.
The question is what should the punishment be in such a case. Incarceration or a permanent loss of the children seem unduly harsh even though their actions were clearly outrageous and dangerous. However, forcing the children into foster homes would not necessarily be in their best interests if there are no other indications of endangerment or any abuse. That would leave probation and forced counseling or classes. That might seem too light for some people or the court.
What do you think?
Source: FOX DC
Spinelli HIMSELF has said this DBQ. I don’t make assertions about others.
Inga said: “but don’t make yourself look any smarter accusing others of being substance abusers.”
Right after she said this!
Most of us don’t smoke medical marijauna to get to sleep, we leave it for those who truly need it.
Really?
Some people must have short term memory issues then.
Also, I was a night nurse who worked 11P to 7A for 30 years. It’s not easy to fall back into a circadian rhythm that day shifters have.
PR, this is one of the reasons I give it back as well as I get, especially to Paul or Spinelli.
Paul, I know you’re angry that you made a fool of yourself in the “Core temp is 35F degrees” fiasco, but don’t make yourself look any smarter accusing others of being substance abusers.
Inga – I do not get angry. It spoils my beauty. BTW, you make assertions about others all the time, you just made one about me.
Paul C. Schulte,
“Some of us take a variety of pain medications to get to sleep. Pick your poison.”
That was rude and uncalled for.
I might point out that the time stamp on our posts is really not reflective of the actual time of the day that the commenter is posting.
For instance it is 8:32 am right now however the time stamp will show my post as being sometime after 11:30 am
Most of us don’t smoke medical marijauna to get to sleep, we leave it for those who truly need it.
Some of us drink to get to sleep. Some of us take a variety of pain medications to get to sleep. Pick your poison.
Not me. I don’t drink anything but tea or decaf coffee or water before bed. When at family gatherings or social events I wil have a glass of wine with dinner or a beer with a brat in summer. Christmas time we have spiked eggnog or grasshoppers for desert. Oh my but we are such alcoholic Cheeseheads. The idea that everyone who stays up late is an alcoholic is stupid to say the least. You often post even later at night than I do Paul, what’s YOUR problem?
Prairie Rose – how was it rude? It is a true statement.
35 degrees core body temp, LOL.
Paul, it’s common sense and common knowlege.
Paul your contention was that hypothermia sets in at 35 degrees F. LOL. Even after being corrected, you stuck to that. LOL. You said a temp of 95F was possibly heatstroke. LOL! You’ll never live this down.
Inga – 95 F ambient temperature, not core temperature.
The Midnight Malcontents, unable to sleep, strike while regular folk are asleep. I wonder what demons keep them awake?
Paul C. Schulte: “Inga – in my physics course we learned that things do not freeze until 32 F. They would be very very cold but not frozen.”
Bizarre. That you got Celcius and Fahrenheit mixed-up doesn’t doesn’t recommend you as a physics expert.
Inga: “If the core body temp were 35 degrees F, it would stand to reason that the extremities would be frozen solid and the trunk would be partially frozen. ”
Partially frozen. Mostly dead.
davep – as I explained during ‘deflategate’ I barely got through physics (math is hard and we had slide rules then). When I took physics my physics teacher did not think we would every go to the moon because of the fuel problem in space. They did not solve the problem until after I graduated high school. I hope that gives you an idea of how long ago I learned about things freezing. Since moving to Arizona, my life has been devoted to staying warm.
No, Nick, Volvos aren’t conservatives’ cars. Volvos are a poor man’s Mercedes.
We’ve spent too much time away. These right wingers are hilarious.
Pete:
Lol.
I’m also excited to learn that all those cadavers in the morgue coolers are really suffering from treatable hypothermia. Bet they are, too.
LMAO!
pogo=nogo
Paul C. Schulte
pete – at 95 degrees F they are pushing for heat stroke.
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bet it was easy getting out of your history class. “mr. paul, mr. paul, i need to see the school nurse, i’m havin a heat stroke.”
Paul’s as good at medicine as he is at political philosophy and pogo’s strange silence in the face of this foolishness tells me a lot about his intellectual integrity. So pogo, is Paul right or is the entire medical establishment right?
mespo – when we got into the football thing I told everyone that I barely got through high school physics (like Edision I had trouble with the math). I know as much about medicine as you do, maybe more (unless those stories about you chasing ambulances are true). With 5 younger siblings I can look at a wound and tell if it needs stitches or not.
BTW, I did not think it was worth the work to deal with your under work on the Unabomber. You don’t win default judgments around here that you declare yourself.