Susan L. Terrillion, 55, found herself under arrest in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware after she left her two children unattended for 45 minutes as she ran down the street to retrieve some take out food. She is now facing two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Terrillion, a Maryland resident, left her 9-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter alone at their Delaware vacation rental on Tuesday, August 16, 2016. After leaving, the family dog broke away into the street and a driver helped control the dog and learned that they were alone. The driver called police and then Terrillion returned.
First and foremost, I think it is remarkably stupid to leave to your children alone, particularly at a beach house at the height of vacation season with thousands of transient people and vacationers in the area. With four kids, I know that hassle of loading up kids for short trips but it pays to be risk averse in such cases.
However, there remains the question of whether this warrants two criminal charges.
According to this site, many states have no age limitation specified for being left alone. Some states like North Carolina have as low as 8 years old — making this conduct lawful in that state. Others set the age at 10 years old. The problem is that this is a law that is rarely enforced and most parents leave their kids unattended for short period while they work in the yard or step out to speak with neighbors or walk the dog. Notably, the common law has long applied a rule that views children in a case by case fashion since some children are more mature than others in development. Yet, the common law historically affords children a degree of protection by imposing presumptions that children of a certain age are either incapable of negligence or presumptively incapable of negligence. Above a certain age (which differs from state to state) a standard for children applies that allows the jury to judge the reasonableness of a child of similar “age, experience, intelligence and degree of development and capacity.” While stated as an objective standard, this is a departure from the standard for adults where courts generally do not consider the intelligence of the individual. This standard is often associated with the ruling in Charbonneau v. MacRury, 84 N. H. 501 (1931).
Under the so-called “Illinois Rule,” a child as old as seven can be treated as incapable of negligence.
Here you have two kids together — aged 8 and 9. I admit that I am a bit of over protective of the kids, even as they got older. I also do not blame the driver for calling police. I would find it hard to leave two children alone in such a circumstance. However, since this was a proven short run to get take out, is it necessary in your view to charge the parent?
Is there some scientifically determined age at which minors can suddenly fend for themselves for 45 minutes?
I say no; not anymore.
Look at college kids today; they still need mummy and daddy 24/7, lest they see or hear something “unwanted” or “unsafe.”
We are now a nation of immature helpless children.
We need the government to tell us how big a soda to drink, what kind of car to drive, what words we can say, what food we can eat, what entertainment is allowed, and what we can smoke.
For modern society’s sake, she should be imprisoned until she dies.
Giver her children up to separate and multiple foster families.
Shoot the family dog.
Repossess the house.
Pour encourager les autres.
When I was in second grade (I suppose this made me about 7 years of age), I used to walk about a mile to and from school each day, wearing a house key on a chain around my neck. Both of my parents worked, and so after school I’d let myself into the house, do my homework, and watch Tom and Jerry. It wasn’t a big deal; several other kids in my class did the same.
This whole idea of grade-school kids as hapless babies in need of constant protection is a relatively new one — and perhaps even a harmful one at that: it sends children a message that the world is a dangerous place full of bad people looking to do them harm. (There are of course a handful of such bad people, but we tend to greatly exaggerate the number.) I’m not so sure that’s a good thing to program into the brain of a 7-year-old.
Bam bam, I think she looks like a normal 55-year-old woman who had just spent the day at the beach with her kids – no make-up and the hair is messy. We all can’t look as picture-perfect and glamorous as you!
Arrest someone for a short food run!?? While they are on vacation!??! This is beyond ridiculous.
And I don’t see a parenting fail, I see a fail of our society…
And really, posting this mug shot on the internet so that people all over the world can read about her plight is really not very classy. Publishing mugshots has always bothered me. It’s an extra punishment that you get whether or not you’re proven innocent or guilty. This blog should be above that.
Also, if that nice “driver” had really had the kids’ best interest at heart he/she would have waited with them until Mom got back. Actually, in Germany the “driver” would have probably driven on…..
I live in a very touristy area in Germany. There are 3 B&Bs on my block. And 5 restaurants that serve alcohol and 1 café/bakery. So, I guess you could say we have a lot of transients and vacationers here. Yet, somehow kids aged 6 manage to walk to school unattended. Grade school kids walk the family dog down to the river unattended ( it is one of their chores). As soon as my daughter could write I dictated a list of the bread and rolls we wanted for breakfast that day and she got them and the correct change all by herself. Always sent her to pick up the take out pizzas. This is normal parenting everywhere but the good ole USA, where we are so “free”.
Reisling – here in the good ole USA pizza is delivered if you want (assuming you are in the delivery zone). If you are outside the delivery zone you would never send you kid for pizza if they were 6.
Paul, the place I order takeout pizza from is 2 blocks away from us and doesn’t deliver. They’re busy enough without delivery service and are even able to afford to close for the month of August and spend that time back home in bella Italia.
Riesling – I have always lived outside the deliver range of pizza delivery. I am a mile from a complex of food places, but none of them deliver.
Ridiculous charges. So tired of the ever growing Nanny State.
Outrageous. Surely the children were fine. Sue the police for false arrest.
Susan L Terrillion is not a member of the overclass therefore she deserves to have her and her children’s lives ruined by her prosecution and the dumping of her children in foster care where they will be abused and grow up to be drug addicts, and felony disenfranchised private prison fodder.
I find stories like this to be amusing, they illustrate the means by which the US maintains the privilege hierarchy.
Something to think about! This is definitely over – reacting by police and truck driver as well. Let’s talk about outcome: two criminal charges and kids taken away will cost a huge amount of money to get them home, plus the stress they had to experience. This will leave a huge mark on their psychological behavior later. At 9 years old kids are old enough to take public transportation in any Europe country, be outside on their own, or to play on iPad for hours without moving! Another way to put this very simple: no one deserves to be humiliated like that, and sometimes people look so much older when they get to be arrested while her two kids home alone! Please be a Human and try to feel sorry for a lady, who is a mother. Where is a criminal???
Criminal is inside of government, who will get x – amount in dollars from that family and many other’s for NOTHING! That would be a criminal!
Absurd IMO. Even if they were at a vacation rental the kids were in no danger. Then again I was raised free range. Typically we left the house during the summer with some food and didn’t return until dinner time. We biked 2 miles away to the next town to the pool by ourselves. Sure we encountered some questionable characters like a flasher in the woods once, but it didn’t damage us. We kids learned to fend for ourselves and that the world contained people who were different – we learned to listen to our instincts as well as the values our parents and community instilled in us. Sheltering kids and punishing parents is going to lead to a generation of snowflakes who have no defenses.
Well, she obviously left the kids there to watch the dog!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Yeah, she’s 55, and I’m Princess of the Nile. Count the rings around her trunk–that broad is 55 on one side.
Ridiculous. When I was that age, we rode our bikes all over town, returning only when it got dark. Had lots of adventures, and learned to be independent. It’s sad that kids are so smothered these days. They’ll only grow up to need “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings.” And if the Delaware police are so concerned about the well-being of these kids, seeing their mother arrested and hauled away in hand cuffs is going to help them grow emotionally? I would imagine the mother’s arrest was quite traumatizing for the kids, and something they will always remember.
55? Holy sh@t! She looks like someone a couple of decades older! Good lesson for all of us–that greasy, unhealthy crap, grabbed from takeout, will age you beyond your years. Looks like Grandma may have been on a Polident run.
The parent is not at fault. She is gone 45 minutes getting food and the oldest is 9. Certainly old enough for both to entertain themselves for an hour.
This is an over-reaction by the police.
“This is an over-reaction by the police.”
Sister can’t catch a break. In Maryland they arrest parents for letting the kids walk to the park, in Delaware for leaving them in the safety of their own home.
I wonder if Family Services has written a standard for the length of the leash parents are supposed to keep their children on.
Very sad story. I would have taken the kids, but we don’t really know why she thought it would be best not to at the time. Definitely not worth criminal charges, or the interference of the state.
Those who charge her should be fired. She did not leave her kids alone in some car, or boat. It was a residence. Jeso. I would like to pick the jury on this case.
No, not necessary. But it sure is a parenting fail.