Posted on 03/21/2006 6:38:34 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
Man did not rescue child for fear of 'pervert' slur
ALEX CORNELIUS
A BRICKLAYER who passed a toddler walking alone in a village shortly before her fatal fall into a pond said yesterday he did not stop to help in case people thought he was trying to abduct her.
Clive Peachey, from Cornwall, told an inquest jury in Stratford-upon-Avon that he had passed two-year-old girl, Abby Rae, in his van shortly after 10am on 28 November, 2002.
This was just moments after the toddler disappeared from the Ready Teddy Go nursery in the Warwickshire village of Lower Brailes, according to staff.
Abby was found an hour later in an algae-covered garden pond and rescued by her mother, Victoria Rae.
She was taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital by air ambulance but was pronounced dead.
Mr Peachey, of Liskeard, told the inquest he had passed the little girl as she tottered towards the road in High Street.
He said: "I kept thinking I should go back. The reason I didn't go back was because I thought people might think I was trying to abduct her.
"I was convinced her parents were driving around and had found her."
Mrs Rae, 36, wept as Mr Peachey gave his evidence to the packed hearing.
She had earlier read emotionally from a statement as she relived the moment she dragged her daughter from the pond.
Two nursery employees had gone into the garden during their search but told the inquest they did not see the pond because it was covered in green vegetation.
The inquest was adjourned until today.
Tell that to the French Jews who were deported to Auschwitz without a peep of protest from the French.
This is the cost of being an "evil white male".
>>>Have you, personally, got the balls, to do right, in the face of all adversity?
Real men do.
They don't stop and look for public opinion for justification and security in their actions.
Why not hold the girl in broad daylight and ask somebody passing by to call the police? I would have stopped if I saw a two year old running around unsupervised.
60 years ago. Not relavent to the present discussion.
sign of the times...
At my age.......that would never happen to me. No cop would think twice.....
Very good point.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Bank on it.
But to know those were the choices he'd've had to know the future.
It's brutal, but I can't argue it. I don't blame anyone who doesn't want to get caught up in a modern suburban version of a Kafka novel.
That's so sad.
I can somewhat understand his position. The local neighbor girls who must be under 10 or so run a lemonade stand and hang out outside my drive since my road is dead end. Once a year, I stop by and buy it, but I find myself reluctant to do more because I don't want anyone to suggest I've taken interest in the children. I'd protect them to the death from perverts but if something were ever to happen, I'll be damned if someone suggests "well that guy seems to be around them all the time". Sad state of affairs.
I do look out for them. If I ever saw something odd, I'd intervene or call the cops, but I pretty much won't interact with them except very rarely.
"you'd have to be out of your mind to even touch someone else's naked child in this day and age, no matter his or her condition."
Oh yeah? I still remember a murder more than thirty years ago, a l0 year old girl who escaped from her kidnapper and went running naked along a highway - many motorists saw her and didn't stop - "I thought she was using the bathroom or something" - kidnapper caught her again and finished the job.
For God's sake, help the child. Wrap the child in a towel, sit on your front porch and wait for the police.
Mrs VS
I completely understand his thinking. My husband, who loves kids (we have five), has been very stand-offish towards little kids for this very reason.
A very, very sad situation.
You got it. If doing the right thing was easy and without risk, we'd all do it all the time.
I shall echo Calpernia - Real men do.
When I am home alone on Halloween, which is often the case, I don't answer the door to the little trick or treaters.
Actually 'innocent until proven guilty' only means that during trial the prosecution has to make the case of your guilt. In other words, you don't have to make the case that you are innocent.
Many believe it to be that you should not be under suspicion if you are arrested. However, if people really believed that the police were in the habit of arresting innocent people, there would be revolt against police corruption.
I had some random four to five year old child show up on my doorstep, just about out in the middle of nowhere, around 11:30pm this past Halloween. I had a bit of a personal crisis deciding what to do with it.. :)
In any case, I told her to (a) keep her distance; and (b) hang out on the deck while I called 9/11. She proceeded to cry while she did that. *sigh* The cop that showed up very suspiciously took down an incident report (and absurdly asked if he could come in while he did it ... um, no). So, to make the long story short, I can certainly understand this guy's thinking.
PS. And I also made a point of getting the cop's info and calling the PD afterward to inform them of who took the child and when. My motto is: Trust no one!
I am very saddened (to coin a phrase) to see how many would need to make an 'ology of this.
Study the situation, take a poll, create focus groups....
'What would be the popular opinion?'
Sickening.
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