Handling of ‘abduction’ case involving teen has been absurd
Handling of ‘abduction’ case involving teen has been absurd
Mike Thomas COMMENTARY
June 15, 2010
I know that in this paranoid world, you never approach a small child who is by herself, take her by the hand and walk out of a store with her in search of mommy.
But I am not 14 years old.
I am not Edwin.
Last week, Edwin went to the Burlington Coat Factory store on West Colonial Drive with his mother.
He saw a 3-year-old girl without a parent. If he had it to do all over again, if he could see the cops, the handcuffs, the TV cameras and the jail cell all awaiting him, I imagine the last thing he would have done was try to help her.
But he did.
I pieced together what happened from the investigative report, a 911 call, surveillance video, news reports and interviews with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Edwin approached the girl and told her he would find her mother. Edwin’s mother said she saw the two together, asked Edwin what was going on, and then said she would help.
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Was this boy really trying to kidnap the child, or is he a hapless teen who was trying to do the right thing and help a lost todler?
In today’s society we have become so paranoid we often see ghost and shadows where there are none, when it comes to older adults and children. Many willingly scream names and are willing to destroy innocent people without the benift of the doubt.
On the other hand we have become paranoid cause we hear the stories of chidlren going missing, being assulted in washrooms, etc. So where do we draw the line, how do we know if we are just being paranoid, or if we are rightfully accusing someone of a possible illegal action involving a child?
Many would rather not take the chance and declear someone guilty first and ask questions later, but is that acceptable?
If the boy in this story really is innocent and he was just trying to help the child, then society has already done him a grave disservice. He will likely walk with the cloud of some suspicion due to this incident for the rest of his life. There are 14 year olds and younger in the world who do bad things, even to children, but then there are a lot of 14 year old that are childlike themselves, and would never even dream of harming a child, so innocent is their world view, that someone thinking such would never occur to them.
Today this boy is still in jail, the police are trying to charge him with a crime, and his mother swear he was just trying to help what he thought was a lost child find her mother. Society has to be very careful, at one time we were not careful with children and did not guard them closely enough, but has the pendulum swung too far the other way? Are we in this instance acting in an overly zealous fashion?
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