On Saturday, we noted that the Seattle Crime blog had picked up a police scanner report of a child found wandering barefoot and “not dressed for the elements” near near 50th and Wallingford. Well, the Seattle Crime blog has the resolution of the story now, as well: The good news is that shortly after the police arrived, her father, who was out looking for her, found her as well.
The bad news is that, in addition to carrying her pet rabbit, she was also carrying a small purse with her dad’s pipe in it. Not the tobacco kind. And an empty bottle of Endocet (generic percocet, a prescription painkiller in the opiate family).
The man told the police that he had left their door open by accident when he let their dogs out, and the two year old had wandered out while he and his wife slept.
The father was taken into custody and charged with possession of marijuana. It’s notable that our new City Attorney Pete Holmes has declared that he will not be prosecuting marijuana offenses, so it’s unlikely that this will go to court, although it is possible that he could be charged with child endangerment.
It’s a tough story to wrap one’s head around. Certainly it seems pretty bad: barefoot two year old wandering the streets with drug paraphenalia. On the other hand, lots of people have pot pipes, lots of people are prescribed painkillers, lots of people leave the door unlocked by accident, lots of people have kids. That all those came together this way all at once, well…
We’re just glad the child is safe and hope things turn our right all around.
I was driving by at the time this happened. Given the weekend traffic at that time, this girl and her family are really lucky she didn’t wander into the street. Luckily the passersby were kind enough to stop and call 911.
Thank you for following up, Wallyhood. I had been checking for more info about this.
Two year-old walks out open door of passed-out parents’ home with pot pipe in purse, possibly following dogs? Hey, it could happen to anyone…right?
Wow. Who let’s their two-year-old unattended while they take a nap? Even in a locked house that is pretty egregious. But in a house with an open door and narcotics within a child’s reach?
“It’s a tough story to wrap one’s head around.” Really? What would have to happen to this to tilt over into something a bit stronger? No offense intended, but I think you are being a bit too even-handed on this. Too many of us are willing to turn a blind eye to reckless child endangerment in our communities. We’ll get vexed about Chanukah or loud music, but when a child is at risk, we bend over backwards to rationalize it.
Arrest the child! Those parents should never have been unattended!
David, you’re almost certainly right that I do tend to be a bit too even-handed. That said, I just don’t have a hard time imagining the sequence of events that would put me into this story: I fall asleep on the couch while my child playing. I’ve left a door unlocked. My child goes out, and along the way finds something that is not dangerous to him (a pot pipe, an empty prescription bottle), but that is going to look really, really bad in his hands.
Next thing I know, people are saying that CPS should take my child away.
Maybe it didn’t happen that way. I don’t know. Not enough info in the story.
Our different reactions come from the same place, oddly enough. I can see how easy it would be to be that father, but I work hard to be a grown-up and not put my kid in that kind of danger. I assume you do the same. If I did something like this, I would expect CPS to remove my child temporarily and I would have to prove that I have created a safe environment for child to return to. How are they to know it is a one-time occurence — because the father says so?
If the child were hit by a car or abducted, would you feel differently?
At the risk of heading off into a tangent, it’s a really interesting question: let’s say two people stand next to each other blindfolded and each throws a spear into crowd. One spear hits and kills someone, the other one doesn’t. Should the murderous spear-thrower be punished more than his lucky counterpart?
Our justice system says yes (pass out drunk at the wheel and hit someone and you’ll be punished more than someone who passes out drunk at the wheel and hits a tree), but it seems odd to me. Both people acted the same, why are they treated differently?
Sorry, don’t mean to dodge the question. Much.
In either case, you would be charged — one offense is generally punished more harshly than the other, just as attempted murder is usually punished less harshly than successful murder, but they are both punishable offenses. In the case of the negligent parents, they would be in much hotter water if their daughter had met her death or injured. But they should still be in some hot water.