Should Parents/Guardians Who Leave Kids to Die in Hot Cars Be Criminally Prosecuted?

i don't think it takes hours in this heat. from my understanding, this can happen in as little as 15 minutes. while i think you should probably realize that your kid isn't with you in 15 minutes, it's not nearly as bad as not realizing they're not with your for a couple hours.

 

I remember one incident, a guy fogot his kid because normally his wife takes the kid to the childcare center. But on that day she had to go somewhere and asked him to take the kid. Of course, he totally forgot about dropping the kid off and went about his business. I don't the follow up to that case. But would you say he's an exception?

 

Good question, this just happened up here as well. Honestly, it happens too much every summer.

http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12977777

BENTONVILLE, AR (AP) - Police in northwest Arkansas say a toddler died after being left in a locked car for several hours Friday, when temperatures approached 100 degrees.

Bentonville police say the 14-month-old girl was left in her father's car while he was working a the David Glass Technology Center. Authorities say the father forgot to drop off the girl at her daycare center and went straight to work instead, leaving her locked in the backseat.

The girl was taken to Northwest Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Police say the temperature was 99 degrees shortly after noon Friday.

The girl and her father haven't been identified, and the death remains under investigation.

Information from: KHOG-TV,

 

Unless there's evidence that suggests the parents were malicious in their actions, what's the point in prosecution? The parents have already suffered the unspeakable horror of losing a child. Are they supposed to be corrected in the criminal system so that it doesn't happen again?

 

I've done this multiple times, just not leaving him in the car. I've been making my daily commute and had to turn around when I realized my son was in the car.

Yes they should be prosecuted. Its negligence. I'm sure its horrific for the parent already, but they are still breaking the law and a child died from it.

 

But I could see how if you had relatives with you and a lot of people and they were say helping you by carrying your toddler around you might lose track of them.

Doesn't seem like he was a neglectful father or anything, just a really terrible absent-minded mistake. I don't think he should be criminally prosecuted. It's not as if he intentionally left his kid there.

I'm sure the pain he'll have the rest of his life will probably be far worse than anything a court can do anyway.

 

http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/ncpca_statute_child_neglect_abandonment_3_07.pdf

I believe they should generally be persecuted, but not necessarily with manslaughter/murder charges. And not all cases should be prosecuted.


-absence of malice does not mean free of responsibility for your actions
-the neglect is a result of being absentminded

 

I thought these people usually were prosecuted.

 

agreed. and perhaps malicious isn't the right word, but certainly there needs to be something a bit more than innocent absent mindedness.

canadians who do not realize how hard this heat can be, are probably suffering enough. whereas some mother who's pissed because the kid is making too much noise in the grocery store and wants to teach the kid a lesson might reasonably be prosecuted for something.