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?
Here in New Mexico, last week, a 10-year-old little girl was at home with her mother, aunt, and her mother’s boyfriend. She was raped, murdered, dismembered, and her body set on fire in the family bath tub. She was home with her mother.
@Darren
Who is McFly?
I’m beginning to think these PC cases prosecuting free range parents is an easy way for Child Protective Services to avoid the hard work (and mentally draining) of going after parents who DO endanger / abuse their children. The BBC’s Panorama did a show back in 2012 called “Poor America” which is no longer available unfortunately. Some years ago I had a lady into clean the carpet and we got to talking. Turns out she has a Master’s in Social Work and used to work for the state. The number of cases she had to deal with as SC cut the budget drove her to a nervous breakdown as she felt she was letting down the kids. So she now cleans carpets, derives satisfaction from doing a thorough and good job and does not take it home with her. And volunteers in the schools.
Poor America
Panorama
With one and a half million American children now homeless, reporter Hilary Andersson meets the school pupils who go hungry in the richest country on Earth. From those living in the storm drains under Las Vegas to the tent cities now springing up around the United States, Panorama finds out how the poor are surviving in America and asks whatever happened to Barack Obama’s vision for the country.
Who is McFly? I had thought that most of the “Back to the Futurisms” have entered the mainstream consciousness by now. But, FYI, the line “Think, McFly” appears several times in the original movie and the two sequels. Here’s a clip of the 1950s McFly, with Tom Wilson as Biff saying the line to Crispin Glover as George McFly:
There is no probable cause to charge this mother with child endangerment. So let’s look at it succinctly, a mother went to bring food to the family, she was delayed, and then arrested upon her return because the restaurant took too long. Left alone? how ambiguous is that? Left alone in the back yard? Left alone in their bedroom while they sleep? They were in their home. It doesn’t matter if it was a vacation home or in a gated community bordered by guard towers and attack dogs to keep out the millions of child molesters running rampant in town.
This type of arrest is a zeitgeist, and a sad one at that. Thirty years ago the reporting party would not have called. If the police did arrive they would ask where their mom went and when they said she went to the restaurant to get dinner the police would have left.
I suspect the worst is yet to come for this mother. Child Protective Service will get involved and cause far more damage to the children and family. All of this for nothing.
Are we to lock up every parent that was away from their children for some arbitrary amount of time?
The judge should throw this out at arraignment and lecture the prosecutor for wasting the court’s time and condemning mothers for running out to get basic necessities of life, coupling this with saying “So the mother was away from the kids a few minutes too long so you solve the problem by putting the mother in jail? Think McFly!.”
OT for this thread but germane to a discussion some time ago.
bettykath, I travel this great country and the WORST left lane drivers are Cheeseheads. THE WORST!
Driving too slow in the left-hand lane? That reminds me of a classic joke:
Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Police Officer sees a car puttering along at 22 MPH. He thinks to himself, “This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!” So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies — two in the front seat and three in the back – eyes wide and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, “Officer, I don’t understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?”
“Ma’am,” the officer replies, “You weren’t speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers.”
“Slower than the speed limit?” she asked. No sir, I was doing the speed limit exactly… Twenty-Two miles an hour!” the old woman says a bit proudly. The State Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that “22” was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.
“But before I let you go, Ma’am, I have to ask… Is everyone in this car ok? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven’t muttered a single peep this whole time.” the officer asks.
“Oh, they’ll be alright in a minute officer. We just got off Route 119.”
Ralph – thank you for the smile. 🙂
Driving too slow in the left lane? Reminds me of a classic joke:
Sitting on the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Police Officer sees a car puttering along at 22 MPH. He thinks to himself, “This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!” So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over. Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies — two in the front seat and three in the back – eyes wide and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, “Officer, I don’t understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?”
“Ma’am,” the officer replies, “You weren’t speeding, but you should know that driving slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers.”
“Slower than the speed limit?” she asked. No sir, I was doing the speed limit exactly… Twenty-Two miles an hour!” the old woman says a bit proudly. The State Police officer, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that “22” was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.
“But before I let you go, Ma’am, I have to ask… Is everyone in this car ok? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven’t muttered a single peep this whole time.” the officer asks.
“Oh, they’ll be alright in a minute officer. We just got off Route 119.”
@Riesling
Liebe gruesse aus Charleston, SC. Lots of students and transients including military here in the Holy City. NEVER leave the kidz alone! Seriously, I just laughed – fruit cake mentality IMO. And most importantly the boy’s mother and his father (my bro) thought it was funny as well. Matter of fact they are giving him to me for an entire month next summer! I may provide him with a map and let him do a scavenger hunt Downtown. He’s a bright and feisty kid and I want to encourage his independence.
A few weeks after that I was visiting a friend – she is Filipino – both of her folks immigrated here – there is a sizable community of former Navy filipino folk here and they are very tight. After dinner we all sat around and the elders told us stories of their child raising days — several families would go on vacation together – put the kids in one room with the oldest in charge and the adults would retreat to another to play mah jong and enjoy cocktails until the wee hours. And one time they went out to the dance hall.
All of their kids, now parents themselves turned out just fine.
It’s an “eye of the beholder” issue, I doubt I’d have charged this Mom. At 11 I was left in charge of my toddler brother and 7 yr old sis for several hours when my folks went to the commissary some miles away; and I was a regular babysitter for others. Plus today kids this age have cell phones and are in constant contact. We’re evidently determined to raise hopeless, helpless kids.
Laudyms – I think the parent has to decide how responsible the child is. At 11 I was responsible for my 4 siblings and at 12 I was responsible for 5 siblings.
First and foremost, I think it is remarkably stupid to leave to your children alone,
They were alone (with eachother) for all of 45 minutes. You know about Etan Patz and Madeleine McCann because that sort of thing almost never happens. Not suffering from irrational risk assessment is neither incredibly stupid nor a crime.
Here’s a good study on topic showing our risk assessment it based more on our perception of morality than actual risk. A good read. http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/08/22/490847797/why-do-we-judge-parents-for-putting-kids-at-perceived-but-unreal-risk
Briguy – excellent article. Thanks.
Here is an organization which has a very different perspective about child rearing:
http://www.freerangekids.com
Huh
You cannot go to “beach houses” in summer, winter or fall. If you agree with this statement:
“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.”
Do you? Then don’t ever go to a “beach house”. Or a house in Washington DC.
You cannot go to “beach houses” in summer, winter or fall. If you agree with this statement:
“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.”
Do you? Then don’t ever go to a “beach house”.
@Nick
This summer I had my 9 year old nephew visit me here in Charleston for 2 weeks. Took him and the 11 year old son of a friend to the Yorktown as they both love anything military. We toured the Yorktown, a submarine and the Vietnam exhibit. It was so damn hot I was done after 3 hours in the blazing sun. Took the boys to lunch and then the other boy home. Joey wanted Jake to stay so I said call your Mum. He told me she had agreed. So I left — mind you he lives in a very safe upscale neighborhood – and came back home to shower and catch a nap. Next thing I know my husband is shaking me awake asking what was I thinking leaving the boys unattended? Turns out Mum did not say okay – Joey lied. She came home and was surprised to find Jake there and texted my husband. I was lectured by everyone imaginable. But they survived.
Hallo Autumn! So, they lectured you? I find that outrageous! The older boy, god bless him, lied to you! I think he’s the one who needed a lecture.
Riesling – we would have never lied if we called home for permission. I never had a parent call.
Autumn, I am confident you are a very good aunt. The lesson is simple. Kids lie. I know you will remember that.
Supervised “play dates” yet limitless exposure to violent video games. Insanity. My ex sister in law who is Mexican tells me that video games are not very popular in Mexico. Why? Because kids are free range and like to spend time playing outside and interacting in the real world.
We have disconnected enforcement of the laws related to the supervision of children from any real consideration of the actual risks involved. Instead of analyzing whether a lack of supervision creates a substantial risk of harm to the child under the particular circumstances, we automatically equate a child not being immediately supervised by a parent as risk. A great example of that is the hysteria over leaving children alone in a car regardless of location/temperature, etc. Kids need to experience increasing responsibility so the gain the assurance they can handle what comes. I have spoken to kids going off to college within weeks who have, literally, never been without parental supervision (their own or a surrogate) overnight.
Wow…let’s fill the jails with more parents. Especially those who actually take their kids on a vacation (with the dog even)…and oh my….even feed them. Ooooops, take out food—another strike against her.
Oh yes…the horror of it all, oh the humanity…right up there with the hundreds of deaths from the Hindenburg–not.
In the meantime, Chicago is proving deadly for mothers walking their children (a mother WITH her child) and even with the tough gun laws…true–that isn’t directly analogous.
Here’s even more of the “score.”
Raise your kid with “real” barn time…not a clean one…great reduction in cases of asthma. Horrors, let them eat mud pies, much fewer allergies. Let the baby drop the pacifier then pick it up off the carpet…oh GOD the germs.
I remember 8yrs old….really I do. Principal called my grandad because I punched a kid and laid him out. Grandad’s response……”I told him to.” Don didn’t bother me anymore. Mother sent me to a professional boxer…CHILD ENDANGERMENT. I was a skinny lanky kid, but a jab then a right cross. Nope…knuckles did fine….use heel of hand.
By my count 6 adults in my life should have police records. Being 11 and a ready made babysitter for my newborn brother kept me out of juvie
The population growth of the US is going to go to less than 0….but for different yet related reasons…helicopter society and porn. Young people won’t be able to make decisions, venture out…resist innocuous germs…or have sex (latest research shows abundance of porn at early age actually reduces libido, especially for guys),
So, notice drop in unwed teen mothers….but increases in 20 somethings..but low birth rate. Must be the dirty diapers…”oh the humanity” and the dread of the police state.
@Riesling
Glad to see the Germans and others have squashed the TTIP.
https://www.rt.com/business/357454-ttip-talks-failed-eu/
Obama is busy trying to get the TTP passed while the public is focused on Trump and Clinton
@Riesling
Your posts are making me homesick – I grew up in Deutschland. All of friends kids are still free range – surviving and thriving. The US is losing its mind going after parents. Kids here aren’t even allowed to go to the playground (assuming they are walkable distance of one) unattended much less walk to school alone. It’s always refreshing when I return to Germany & Switzerland to see the large numbers of children out and about with nary an adult overseer in sight. Have you seen the movie “Bad Mom”? I thought it was hilarious.
I think I’ve had a comment deleted but- short & sweet – if you recommend Bad Mom, I’ll go.
smythe, Great story. I love the personal experiences that help give perspective.
If the children are mentally challenged or disabled then it would be negligent. If the children are physiologically normal, and reasonably well behaved, it can be appropriate, i.e. no hurricanes coming, decent neighborhood, etc. There are so many mitigating circumstances while parenting it is best not to take the carte blanc approach that a parent must not leave a child unattended under a certain age. (Is leaving a child in the farmhouse while one is out in the barn milking the goats grounds for arrest? Is being on the computer of the fourth floor of my 4,000 sq. ft house while my child is downstairs crawling around the kitchen leaving him “unattended”?)
A parent should use reasonable care in raising a child, but we do err if we seek to explicitly circumscribe that standard in the courts for the millions of circumstances that arise in the millions of families in the U.S.
When I was 8, I contracted Mononucleosis and was absent from school for six weeks. My father was a contractor. My mother was head nurse in the maternity ward at the hospital, and worked the 7-3 shift. When my siblings left for school I was left alone for seven hours. I loved it. I played with my cats, ate what I wanted, and lay in bed reading undisturbed. I was in heaven.
My mother must have been a criminal in 1955 for putting me on the Erie-Lackawanna train from Gladstone NJ to Hoboken where I’d take the subway to 33rd Street in NYC and then catch a cab uptown to 59th St where I’d go to the dentist and then afterwards retrace my route back to NJ. I was 7 years old when I started doing this trip by myself.
Chenrezik, I know exactly what you mean. My parents left me alone, or with my older brother alone, when I was age 7 and under many, many times. Both of my parents worked, and after I finished school, I’d play games with other children, sometimes catch a movie at the local theater, and other times head home and listen to music or read books. (My parents didn’t get a TV until I was 11 years old.) I also learned to cook for myself. And I never seemed to have any problems taking care of myself. So what’s the big deal?
Everything is dependent on the responsibility of the kids. If these were good cops, they assessed that and decided these kids should not have been left unattended.