Posted on 07/06/2006 10:41:40 AM PDT by devane617
NEW PORT RICHEY - Last week, her son turned 10 years old. On Tuesday morning, she watched as police took him away in a patrol car, charged with a felony.
A neighbor saw the boy break into her car and make off with a pocket knife, according to a police report.
Police were originally uneasy about arresting the boy, who will be a fourth-grader this year. But New Port Richey Lt. Jeffrey Harrington said the mother insisted. They charged him with armed burglary.
"The mother was at her wits' end," Harrington said Wednesday. "She thought he was just incorrigible. She asked us for help to get him into the system."
The single mother told the St. Petersburg Times that her son was so out of control that someone had to do something. (The Times is withholding her identity to avoid identifying the boy.)
"This kid has me in such fear for my own safety and my other son's (an 11-year-old) safety," she said. "I'm not giving up on him. I just think this is what he needs."
She said her son began beating her at age 6 with a Nerf baseball bat that had a metal rod inside. She said he knows that she has a bad leg from a car accident, and he aims directly for it. Sometimes, she said, he threatens to kill her or slit her throat during the night, and she is so afraid that she has a friend stay over so that she can get some sleep.
The mother listed several incidents involving her son since she moved to a new home June 1. The police had been to her home at least eight or nine times before the arrest.
Her son had punched walls in her last home, which angered the landlord so much that they had to move. She said he stole a bike from a little girl at the library and has also stolen jewelry, money and other items.
Recently, a police officer brought him home after he was found spray-painting the playground on Main Street, she said. But because of his age, nobody would press charges.
"Everyone's felt so bad because he's so young that nobody wants to press charges, but that doesn't help him," the mother said. "Apparently, he's trying to act like an adult, so he needs to be treated that way and learn he can't do these things."
When she saw her son in court Wednesday morning, she said, he was arrogant and refused to look at the judge, giggling throughout the proceedings.
"At one point, the judge had to yell at him to look up," she said. "And he said he didn't care if he was kept there for 21 days."
So that's exactly what the judge ordered. The 10-year-old will remain in the juvenile detention center near Land O'Lakes for just shy of a month. His mother said she hopes it will make a difference.
"I pray to God it will," she said "No matter how bad it gets, you just have to be a parent and give unconditional love."
Give me 30 days with him.
You're only 10?
30 days and lithium treament.. the boy seems psychotic.
"This kid has a future in law enforcement."
WHAT?
I don't see how this woman calls herself a parent giving unconditional love. All she did was call for the nanny state to intervene. Seems like she washed her hands of him. I think he's got a future in foster homes.
This kid needs a few good ass whuppins...with the bat.
As my grandfather used to say: "Stay away from that boy -- he looks like a sheep-killin' dog. Ain't but one cure for that."
Probably not the "enforcement" side, rather the "enforced" side...LOL
Please note: single mother, no father in the story at all, "friend" staying over.....all the hallmarks of a family gone wrong.
Apparently the green vomit was the last straw.
you caught it !
For instance, she called the cops once on my younger brother because he was caught stealing...she wanted him to learn a lesson, and believe me, he sure did! (we both did!)
Yep, lack of Father...all the reason...
I noticed that right off.
The kid definitely shows the lack of a father, and a good mother as well. It will only get worse from here on.
|
It doesn't say male friend. Still, I don't see how she'll be any less afraid when the boy is released to her care in a month. If anything, she should be more afraid.
And if not he sure has a future with law enforcement... the police, the DA, the guards, the parole officers, and police again, etc. then one day perhaps the govenor, national grid, 6' vertical pinewood derby, lowly worm...
Without knowing more about the case, I disagree. She needs help and so does this child. It's obviously more than she can do alone. Maybe with some intervention now, a delinquent can be prevented. Unconditional love does not mean turning a blind eye. It means discipline... maybe the kind provided by the state. It just depends...
I think some people are just born psychopaths - I went to school with one who was adopted as a baby and raised all right as far as anyone knew. After several escalating incidents, he went "away" after squirting acid into a pet rabbit's eyes.
It may not be the parents' fault. It does make me wonder what God was thinking.
Mrs VS
His mindset is all ready cast for life, there is nothing any one can do unless he wants to change on his own.
Maybe his mother should have stopped being a whimp along time ago and used one of these, seem to work for my parents and many others I knew!!!
40 years ago, this was my family. My younger brother was exactly the same way. He has spent most of his life in trouble with the law, and has been in prison and jail and juvenile halls. Nothing works. He's now 50 and still the same...........
If that's all she can afford, then that's her only recourse. But, foster homes are very often the source of more problems, truthfully.
Didn't work for my brother. Beatings, jail, prison. Nothing worked. 50 years old and still the same as when he was 10........
And she put up with that????
He was probably totally undisciplined long before age 6 and, as he's been growing older, he's just been escalating his behavior. Bad behavior that's left uncorrected fosters even worse behavior.
Please note: single-minded, all the hallmarks of a judgemental person with a wide paint brush gone wrong.
The child is mentally ill...been there, done that, lost my T-shirt keeping mine in institutions.
Can you use your telepathic powers to determine why she is a single mom? My wife's first hubby walked out because he didn't care to be a dad anymore (his loss my gain, 2 great kids). My mom was a single mom 'cuz dad died of leukemia (I was 5).
Not all single moms are single moms by choice.
She has failed to discipline him and let this escalate now the nanny state is expected to do the job!
All quite true. In this boy's case, we will never know if a good father and mother could have saved him from the life he is pursuing.
"Not all single moms are single moms by choice. "
That's something that's frequently forgotten here, I'm afraid. It sounds to me like this kid is a born psychopath. He's going to either end up institutionalized his entire life or dead.
I'd be willing to bet on it.
Thanks for pointing that out. And there are times when being single is better than staying with the wrong man.
I'm sure that the kid will come back home all fixed and ready to chip in with the chores, like maybe woodcutting or fire-building.
I dated a divorced woman with an 'incorrigible' daughter (an overdeveloped 14 year old that was into leather Boostiers [ala Madonna], Rave parties, Gothic rock bands, and swearing like a truck driver [no offence meant to truck drivers]). The woman finally took some 'action' over the lil' darlings behavior by grounding her and the daughter had her mom arrested for CHILD ABUSE and lied about being beaten.
Remember: Hillary and others have come out in favor of 'Children's Rights' as opposed to 'Parental Rights' wherein there is an assumption of guilt of the adult. It takes a village, ie. society has an interest in the manner in which the child is reared and supercedes the wishes of the parent.
This mom may have been at her wits end.
{{There were also veiled threats made to yours truly by the lil' dear. I bailed out of the relationship rather than tempt the retribution of an out-of-control little girl.}}
The interesting point of this story is that the mother seems to have another son who is completely normal. Same environment, different outcome. Some of it must be luck of the draw in genetics.
Boy's Town was successful in its time, albeit with some notable failures; society hamstrings the parents and then blames them for the full prisons.
Number one, where's Dad?
Number two, how many times was this kid spanked?
Not anymore, Child Protective Services will take him and he will end up in foster care anyway, only difference is that she would be charged with child abuse and she probably couldn't afford a lawyer to get out of it.
bread and water only... and 2o lashes at the main square.. LOL
"Number two, how many times was this kid spanked?"
Spanked?
Can't have any of that,unless you want to be charged with 'child abuse'./sarc
If the boy is a sociopath or psychotic, it wouldn't matter how good a mother the woman is. At least she wants him to understand that adult actions call for adult consequences. Of course, without knowing much more than an apparent lack of a father, I'd have to support her decision to protect herself and her other child who apparently isn't a monster in the making.
Thanks for pointing that out. And there are times when being single is better than staying with the wrong man.
____________
My wife got lucky (literally and figuratively). She found me. (I'm kidding, I'm the lucky one).
You jump to that conclusion but it just could be a "bad seed." There are such people in the world -- anti-social, pathological, whatever you want to call it -- that even the best parents can not handle. They are that way from birth. Thankfully, it's rare, but I have seen it.
"This kid has me in such fear for my own safety and my other son's (an 11-year-old) safety," she said. "I'm not giving up on him. I just think this is what he needs."
Yep. Single parenting is the way to go. /sarcasm
Children need a mother AND a father.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.