Posted on 01/03/2006 7:38:59 AM PST by SmithL
SAN RAMON - Police in San Ramon are investigating a case involving a father and stepmother of two boys who allegedly left them home alone while they celebrated New Year's weekend in Las Vegas.
San Ramon Sgt. Eric Webb said officers were sent to a Dougherty Valley home late Saturday to check on the 5- and 9-year-old brothers after their grandmother said she suspected they were by themselves. After entering the home around 11 p.m., Webb said, police found a gas fireplace lit and the boys asleep in their beds.
The boys were unharmed and had been eating cereal and frozen food heated in a microwave, Webb said. The older boy told police their parents left Friday and expected to be home by Wednesday.
The boys had been instructed not to open the front door during that time, he said, and had been asked to call their parents on a cell phone in case of emergency. Police said the younger boy appeared to have a medical condition.
Police declined to release the names of the boys or their parents, citing their ages and the fact that no arrest had been made.
San Ramon police Sgt. Brian Kalinowski said police are conducting a criminal investigation of the couple, who have allegedly left the boys home alone before.
The boys were placed in the custody of county Child Protective Services and later released to their grandmother, according to authorities. Police said their parents did not return calls to their cell phone by investigators or the boys' grandmother, but they did call back Child Protective Services.
The couple was expected to return to the Bay Area today or Wednesday
If you throw in a couple of bungling burglars, of course.
"Home Alone 3" ?
Looks like the cops found the kids on Saturday night and turned them over to Grandma. But the parents stuck with their vacation plans and aren't getting home from Vegas until tomorrow! Stuck on stupid.
Sitcom.
Great Idea - I like it.
:-)
Heck. No more long weekends for me and the missus.
Not as bad as the parents who left their girls alone for two weeks while they went on a vacation to the Caribbean, or some such place. They left the girls TV dinners, enough for two a day each, and told them not to let anyone know they were alone. Then a fire started in the house... The girls were OK, they had the sense to call 911, but I hope those parents never saw them again. My mom was horrified. Her comment was that she wondered what kind of parents would instill such fear in kids that they would be willing to go hungry and eat only two meals a day while on their own. Some folks just should not have children if they don't want the responsibility.
But should the cops be involved? Seems very nanny state.
Speaking of stupid- why didn't they just arrange for Grandma to babysit??
Dang gubmint....messin' in fambly affairs!
Well, in my city, Saint Paul, and I think the whole state of Minnesota, there has to be someone 12 or older in a house with children, or the parents can be charged with a misdemeanor.
Makes sense to me.
Maybe Grandma refused to babysit so the parents could swan off to Las Vegas ... but, then, Granny figured out that they went anyway ...
Darn right they should. Child abuse and endangerment is a CRIME.
The fact they were unwilling to cut their vacation short despite the situation tells me volumes about these low life scum.
As a mom of three, I hope they throw the book at these idiots. I won't dignify them with the name of "parent".
I agree. The parents were irresponsible, but is this something for the police (government) to get involved in?
The problems with situations like this one are the well intentioned precedents that are set down with unforeseen consequences.
"...no arrest had been made." "...police are conducting a criminal investigation of the couple,..."
Since no arrests have been made and the police are just "investigating" the matter it seems that even the police are unsure how to handle this case.
So, what happens when a mom drives off to the store and leaves her kids alone? Will she be subject to police arrest? Do moms have to take children everywhere? How long, and at what age, can children be left alone before the police become involved?
It's questions like these that lawyers will get rich from as "child endangerment" cases become more government oriented and less parent oriented.
No arrests have been made because the idiots are still in Las Vegas. You can be assured that they will be when they return.
There is no question that the police should be involved in this.
"We're in trouble. We better enjoy it."
our state has laws regarding children......doesn't yours? here they could very well end up in jail. child endangerment.
I would leave my 9 year old alone if she were occupied, while I dropped the older one off somewhere, but ONLY after telling my friend down the hall that I was leaving her alone and would be back in 15-20 minutes.
I would take the 5 year old with me, or leave him with the neighbor. Its not fair to expect a 9 year old to be responsible for a 5 year old.
I think a 9 year old can be left alone, if they are not afraid, if they are busy (e.g. doing homework after school) and if there is someone close by who can be there in a couple of minutes and is aware of the situation. But I am talking minutes to an hour, not hours, and certainly not days.
I would never leave a 5 year old without an older child or adult; someone at least 11-12. And only for a couple of hours at the most.
What those parents did WAS criminal. That was an appropriate police action, and they should consider themselves lucky the kids were ok. We they supposed to stay inside the house for 6 days???
I am against the "big brother" mentality, but we do have and support the police for just this type of situation. In the absence of a responsible guardian, abandoned minor children are a concern of society.
The parents should be fined and put on probation. Then they should be spanked by grandma.
No, it doesn't.
I wouldn't let my 5 year old be outside by themselves anytime, even with a 9 year old. That's just plain bad parenting right there.
All children, under the age of 12 should be under the supervision by an adult, regardless of where they are IMHO.
And regarding the police involvement in this, I think if not them then who will "police" bad parenting and child endangerment because of it. Too many blame the children or the government, when it's the parents who should be blamed because they need to be more responsible or shouldn't have children in the first place. I have NO sympathy for these dead beats.
"Home Alone 3" ?
Been made. No Macaulay Culkin, some other young actor. No Joe Pechi or Daniel Stern.
This would have to be "Home Alone 4"
"The parents should be fined and put on probation. Then they should be spanked by grandma."
That is most likely the problem. Grandma never spanked her children.
Now if you spank you child and they tell at school, then CPS comes and takes them away.
Ahem. In this case, these "parents" were not even in the same state for several days. Fail to understand how you are relating a playground excursion to this.
----I agree with everything you said 100%.
You said a mouthful! What selfish evil parents who put a good time above their children's safety! These people shouldn't even have pets. I can't believe people think this is mere negligence.. If an emergency occured, you can't always rely on a panicky 9 year old to know what to do. I've seen perfectly rational adults panic during emergencies. I'm beyond disgusted.
When I was young, we all roamed freely after school and in the summers. We managed to survive without drowning or burning down the house. It's not so much the youth of the children that makes it dangerous to leave them alone, it's the prevalence of sicko predators. Our children aren't allowed to wander the neighborhood.
I think any rational viewpoint would consider leaving a 9-year old and 5-year old alone for any amount of time, especially with an autistic child, grossly negligent. To find someone to watch the puppies and not the children -- totally dispicable.
12?? Wow, I was 10 when I started babysitting. But that was years ago.
Related article with pic
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1552383/posts
Calif. Husband, Wife Leave Sons Home Alone
"But should the cops be involved? Seems very nanny state"
Somebody has to look out for the kids. What is wrong with the police getting involved in a child neglect case?
"I'm pretty sure my mom would have been locked up a number of times then. She wasn't always home when we got home from school etc.
It's funny how you can be allowed to be outside by yourself at nine, say at a local playground, but can't be inside your own home alone"
If you don't see the difference between a 9 year old being home alone after school for a few hours and a 9 year old being left alone for 5 days with a 5 year old brother than maybe your mamma should be locked up.
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