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[andycapps]

That is horrible. I was paranoid about this, and really everything when I first became a parent.

 

[djplaeskool]

Sad, sad story.
This hardly constitutes murder, from the sound of it.
Child endangerment/cruelty, possibly negligent homicide, yes, but not murder.

 

[railGUN]

Yeah, no. If this was an honest mistake, this guy will suffer more than enough.

 

[ReadingRambo]

Also I grew up in Cobb Co. Ga. VERY conservative place. They'll throw the book at him.

 

[p2535748]

Because if you put him in prison, other parents will forget less.

As a parent, I don't really think this is true. It's not like the threat of prison is more motivating than the threat of a dead child. Trust me, thinking about losing your child is far, far worse than thinking about going to jail. I've never even come close to forgetting my kid in the back seat, and I still worry about it all the time, but never once have I worried about the legal consequences of doing so.

 

[gorfyako]

Fucking idiots think prison is a fix for everything.

Yeah, I don't understand how prison will help, uhh, anyone. We're paying for a man who lost his son to lose a good portion of his life in prison so... uhhh... I mean there has got to be an end result here somewhere, I'm not sure where.

If the guy was forced to tour around, speaking on the topic of child negligence or something like that, then I can understand. But how does him being in prison benefit society in any way?

 

[BronsonLee]

Also I grew up in Cobb Co. Ga. VERY conservative place. They'll throw the book at him.

If that's the case, they'll probably miss

 

[MegaMelon]

He shoulf definitely face some form of punishment but Jesus Christ people really think he should be charged with murder? His own SON is dead due to a terrible mistake he made and he should be left to rot in prison? Rather than sit here and judge maybe we should bare in mind that we're talking about HUMANS. And humans feel guilt and sadness, now can you think who's gonna be feeling like that for the rest of their life? Yeah, the father. RIP.

 

[djplaeskool]

Also I grew up in Cobb Co. Ga. VERY conservative place. They'll throw the book at him.

This though.
I don't even like driving through Cobb county.

 

[marrec]

Ugh, I always hate reading stories like this.

I used to drop my son off at Daycare on the way to work and it was my greatest fear that something like this would happen. It, of course, never did... but I can't help but feel empathy for the distraught father.

*shiver*

 

[railGUN]

As a parent, I don't really think this is true. It's not like the threat of prison is more motivating than the threat of a dead child. Trust me, thinking about losing your child is far, far worse than thinking about going to jail. I've never even come close to forgetting my kid in the back seat, and I still worry about it all the time, but never once have I worried about the legal consequences of doing so.

Yeah, these stories are what put the fear of god into me, not the thought of being punished after the fact.

 

[ReadingRambo]

If that's the case, they'll probably miss

Hope you're right. It really could happen to anyone.

 

[Dunedain_Ranger]

The same way you leave your coffee on the counter, or forget your lunch in the fridge. Read the article.

Yeah just did. Great comparison by the way coffee getting cold or having to go buy lunch compared to the death of your child.

 

[Solaire of Astora]

Or simply hear of this and not leave their child in a car without supervision, ever. It's against the law to do so at all, IIRC. There's a reason for it.

But you see, this guy forgot that he left his child in the car. I know it's a terrible mistake, but it's a mistake nonetheless. It's not like he purposely left his kid in the car, went to see a movie and decided "what the hell, triple feature".

I'm not saying what he did was right in any way, shape or form, but I don't think putting this guy in prison is going to prevent this from happening again.

As a parent, I don't really think this is true. It's not like the threat of prison is more motivating than the threat of a dead child. Trust me, thinking about losing your child is far, far worse than thinking about going to jail. I've never even come close to forgetting my kid in the back seat, and I still worry about it all the time, but never once have I worried about the legal consequences of doing so.

And this.

 

[Wiktor]

What happened to the couple legally speaking?

The prosecutors will be charing him with unintentional causing of death. Which here means that if the judge finds him guilty he's looking at max 12 years in prison.

 

[TheAbsolution]

If that's the case, they'll probably miss

Heh. Yeah you're probably right. I don't think a jury's going to convict on murder.

I feel as though murder is way too high of a charge. Negligent Homicide sounds more reasonable and applicable.

 

[ReadingRambo]

This though.
I don't even like driving through Cobb county.

What you don't like seeing a cop car for every 3 regular cars?

 

[Cygnus]

He shouldn't be prosecuted if it was simply an accident.

What..

 

[DR2K]

How do we know that it wasn't intentional? If the punishment isn't severe then child killers just found a new loophole.

What kind of shitty person forgets to take their kid out the car, much less go to a day care?

 

[Gowans]

What a horrible, horrible thing to happen.

As a Dad to two and with a little girl around this age this is a nightmare, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Absolute nonsense.

I think that was his point. I took it as sarcasm.

As someone with a 9 month old, I am ultra-paranoid about this. My wife and I both installed mirrors in our cars that give us a full view of the car seat when looking in the rear-view mirror. Whenever I'm going to work, I put my laptop bag in the carseat when he's not there so I'm in the habit of always checking the backseat.

I can't even imagine.

I have an au pair. I might tell her to do this. And anyone else taking my kids out from March to October.

 

[EloquentM]

The fact that it was his son is irrelevant.

If you accidently kill anyone, you get punished.
They don't just say 'oh well he'll have to live with the consequences'.

I don't agree with a prison sentence though. Seems pointless in this case.
But he does deserve to repay society in some way.

You're kidding.

 

[thelatestmodel]

Was this a premeditated, planned killing?

I highly doubt it, and as such, this is not murder.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Everyone should read this article before commenting:

Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?

Imho, these parents have already been given the worst sentence possible: they will have to live the rest of their lives knowing that they were responsible for the death of their child. Any other punishment is basically superfluous.

Gross negligence, surely?

I read this article a few months ago when this topic last came around, and it really changed my view on this subject. It's a fine line between negligence and an accident, and my view has swung toward the latter. Every incident is a bit different, but they tend to stem from people living their (busy, exhausting) lives and making a horrible, life altering mistake along the way. I have a hard time passing a harsh sentence upon them for it; losing your child is about as harsh as it gets.

Circumstances can change this, of course. But in this instance, I'm not sure what purpose additional punishment would serve.

 

[ReadingRambo]

Yeah just did. Great comparison by the way coffee getting cold or having to go buy lunch compared to the death of your child.

You didn't. Or you'd understand that the brain doesn't see a difference between forgetting a child, or forgetting coffee. It's called forgetting for that reason. This isn't where some crackhead leaves their baby in the car on purpose while they go shopping.

 

[Draft]

Absolutely ridiculous charge. Fatal Distraction is a crushing piece of journalism. Mandatory reading. I hope (sincerely, truly) that anyone on their moral high horse never experiences what happens to these parents.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

He shoulf definitely face some form of punishment but Jesus Christ people really think he should be charged with murder? His own SON is dead due to a terrible mistake he made and he should be left to rot in prison? Rather than sit here and judge maybe we should bare in mind that we're talking about HUMANS. And humans feel guilt and sadness, now can you think who's gonna be feeling like that for the rest of their life? Yeah, the father. RIP.

Yea. I don't think prison is the way to go with this case. First I'd put him in an inpatient mental facility because he's going to if he hasn't already had a mental breakdown over this. Get him proper help. Then I say give him community service. Have him go around and talk to organizations, schools, parent conferences, everywhere and really have him help drive home how dangerous it is to leave a child sitting in a car like that. I think that he would probably be a better spokesperson then anyone you could get. I have no doubt he'd be willing to do it too if he could prevent even one person from making the fatal mistake he made. Prison will not help him. Not one bit. He's made his own prison that will be far worse then any prison he can be put in.

 

[DedValve]

Because if you put him in prison, other parents will forget less.

You'd think that the horror stories of losing your child due to your own negligence would be a more terrifying punishment than going to prison....

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

How do we know that it wasn't intentional? If the punishment isn't severe then child killers just found a new loophole.

What kind of shitty person forgets to take their kid out the car, much less go to a day care?

That article luxarific posted stated this happened around 40 times in 2013. Not that often. Again, it's an attentional deficit. Like leaving your keys somewhere.

 

[EloquentM]

Yeah just did. Great comparison by the way coffee getting cold or having to go buy lunch compared to the death of your child.

I knew someone would do this. Yes that's exactly how he's comparing the two. They're equal in his eyes.

 

[huxley00]

I don't think he should be charged.

edit: I take that back, I can't really say without more details. For instance, what if his wife always drives their child to daycare everyday except today? Who knows, maybe she put the child in the car for him, told him to drop them off at daycare and he just forgot. We just need more details before we start jumping on one side or the other.

 

[Raiden]

You're kidding.

Why not?

For all we know that kid could have invented the cure for cancer.

Spoiler

Or turn out to be a serialkiller

Also i just had this random thought that out of all these horrible threads we've had so far atleast one of those people had to be a Gaffer.

Imagine reading a thread about you. Although i highly doubt he'll browse anything soon.

 

[Karsticles]

This.

You make a choice of being a father, you're responsible for their well being. Also an entire workday went by before he realised that his kid was still in the car. It sounds cruel but that kid will never grow up, raise a family or anything.

He messed up bigtime and paid the price. Its not like it was a fire, carcrash or a freak of nature kinda thing. Its entirely his own fault.

But what is the point of putting him behind bars? What is that doing that is of benefit to anyone?

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

I read this article a few months ago when this topic last came around, and it really changed my view on this subject. It's a fine line between negligence and an accident, and my view has swung toward the latter. Every incident is a bit different, but they tend to stem from people living their (busy, exhausting) lives and making a horrible, life altering mistake along the way. I have a hard time passing a harsh sentence upon them for it; losing your child is about as harsh as it gets.

Circumstances can change this, of course. But in this instance, I'm not sure what purpose additional punishment would serve.

Yeah I read this same article a while back and it completely changed my view on the subject. These things aren't always negligence. Sometimes it's just up to the fallibility of humans, something that is at times unavoidable. If negligence was involved it would be one thing, but mistakes/accidents are NOT the same as negligence.

 

[Omegasquash]

But you see, this guy forgot that he left his child in the car. I know it's a terrible mistake, but it's a mistake nonetheless. It's not like he purposely left his kid in the car, went to see a movie and decided "what the hell, triple feature".

I'm not saying what he did was right in any way, shape or form, but I don't think putting this guy in prison is going to prevent this from happening again.

Prison won't help the man at all. AT ALL. You can't rehabilitate someone from a mistake...there's no arguing that point. And I don't think that anything will ever prevent this type of tragedy from happening either. People make mistakes, shitty ones at that. But criminal negligence is still criminal negligence. In trying to think of a parallel to this I find myself failing horribly, and I feel like the worst thing that can happen to this person has already happened.

What I don't agree with is murder. The more I think of it, the more I see how ridiculous it is. There was no intent. You can't have murder without intent. This is negligence, pure and simple.

 

[ReadingRambo]

I knew someone would do this. Yes that's exactly how he's comparing the two. They're equal in his eyes.

Sarcasm I hope.

 

[Amalthea]

People who leave their kids in a hot car knowingly should be sentenced for murder but not in this case.

On a related note I overheard some woman at the grocery store who told the cashier that somebody left their young child alone in the parking lot this morning. Luckily it was a underground lot but I still would've liked to slap the parent who did it.

 

[Eoin]

Do you not need intent for murder in the states?

 

[TheSeks]

Great comparison by the way coffee getting cold or having to go buy lunch compared to the death of your child.

Don't be an ass: It's a completely valid comparison. The mind drops things it thinks it's done with. Your cup of coffee and lunch is on the same level as your child.

Have you never been forgotten/picked up late from school? Same thing as this: Your parent was doing errands and forgot the time.

Same thing here: He thought he dropped the child at the daycare center and went into work with nothing telling him otherwise. He was at work for eight hours thinking his kid was at the daycare only to find out as soon as he got back in the car that "no, your child has been here all day."

 

[chuckddd]

I vote for the punishment of castration.

 

[Whitechocolatekrispies]

To me this is obviously negligence, if you have a kid you check your backseat every single time. I feel sorry for him, but I feel much more sorry for the kid that was robbed of its life.

Only someone who has never ever fucked up in the slightest has the right to say this.

But you would of forgotten something in your life. Had accidents. Lost stuff. Done things wrong. Screwed something up.

It happens. The brain isn't perfect and it makes mistakes.

This person made a mistake, only he didn't lock himself out his apartment, his child died as a result. Yet they both took the exact same level of mistake.

 

[MegaMelon]

I vote for the punishment of castration.

This has to be a joke post right?

 

[Slayven]

Whether it's murder or something else, he should be charged. He had a child and he should accept the responsibility.

 

[Dunedain_Ranger]

You didn't. Or you'd understand that the brain doesn't see a difference between forgetting a child, or forgetting coffee. It's called forgetting for that reason. This isn't where some crackhead leaves their baby in the car on purpose while they go shopping.

Coffee doesn't make noise in the backseat. You don't check your rear view mirrors to check your coffee. Only possible way this happens is if that baby was asleep the whole drive. Then to go the whole day not remembering.

 

[ReadingRambo]

Don't be an ass: It's a completely valid comparison. The mind drops things it thinks it's done with. Your cup of coffee and lunch is on the same level as your child.

Have you never been forgotten/picked up late from school? Same thing as this: Your parent was doing errands and forgot the time.

Same thing here: He thought he dropped the child at the daycare center and went into work with nothing telling him otherwise. He was at work for eight hours thinking his kid was at the daycare only to find out as soon as he got back in the car that "no, your child has been here all day."

That's the scariest part. Your brain can trick you into thinking that your intentions became reality due to your routines.

 

[Deadbeat]

Because if you put him in prison, other parents will forget less.

Are people really going to fall for this bait?

 

[Ethranes]

This guy needs therapy, not prison

 

[Broder Salsa]

Nor do we have to punish the guy if he made a mistake. If he honestly forgot, what will putting him in prison do? Cause him to get a divorce? Lose his house and job? Does that sound like rehabilitation?

I can only agree with this post.

 

[Haly]

I read this article a few months ago when this topic last came around, and it really changed my view on this subject. It's a fine line between negligence and an accident, and my view has swung toward the latter. Every incident is a bit different, but they tend to stem from people living their (busy, exhausting) lives and making a horrible, life altering mistake along the way. I have a hard time passing a harsh sentence upon them for it; losing your child is about as harsh as it gets.

Circumstances can change this, of course. But in this instance, I'm not sure what purpose additional punishment would serve.

I agree with you here, it is a freak accident more than anything else.

A lot of people believe that whenever a child is involved, a parent's concentration should suddenly shoot up to 100%, but in reality childcare fades into habit and routine like everything else in a person's life. Human minds are just wired to do that. There's always the slight, slight, slight, slight chance of a small mental error (forgetting something that should've been done earlier that day, something everyone does), leading to a tragedy like this.

 

[EloquentM]

Why not?

He doesn't owe anything to society for this. He owes it to his family, himself, and his son. Any punishment society gives him is paltry in comparison to the mental trauma he's going through. Putting him in prison or even a lighter sentence literally does l nothing except make people who disagree that it was an accident feel better about themselves.