No I wouldn’t and I didn’t leave my kids alone when they were 8.
Nancy Grace was just on about this. I don’t usually watch her but there is nothing else on TV. It turns out the
ages of the other kids was 2,4,6,7 & 8… The moms went out at 11:30 and came back at 2:30. They didn’t check on the 1 year old until 10:30 am. The police ended up getting the information about what happened from the 6 year old.
So the 6 & 7 year old kids woke up the next morning and didn’t mention that the 8 year old “beat up” the baby…and it wasn’t known that the 8 year old did it until the police talked to the 6 year old?
Again…odd.
Were all the kids sleeping in the same bedroom? Wouldn’t there have been blood?
moms went out at 11:30 and came back at 2:30. They didn't check on the 1 year old until 10:30 am.
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Yeah, when they finally dragged their fannies out of bed. And we know little ones, they were up before 10:30…so they were roaming around the house while their moms likely were “sleeping it off.” great.
I don’t know about blood. Remember this is a 1 year old so it probably hitting numerous times could kill the baby without blood.
Arresting an 8 year old seems very strange. Maybe there’s another concern. Would there be a concern that a child who would do this would be a danger to the other kids?
We all know that crying can be annoying, but choosing to “beat up the baby” is such an extreme option that there must be some concern that he’s a danger to others.
This is such a horrific story. Both mothers are culpable, in my opinion, and neither should ever have responsibility for children again. Just awful.
I can’t imagine leaving an 8 year old home alone, for any amount of time, let alone with multiple younger children.
Mother of the 8 yr old: 26 and mother of five
Why have five kids if u can’t affort a sitter for 3 hrs for just one?
I was alone at 8, for brief periods. I walked to and from school alone then too, in NYC. Different time I suppose.
I was not, however, put in charge of my younger sibs at age 8 while my parents went clubbing. It’s possible I watched them (they’d have been 5 and 3) for a short time while my parents went to the store or something but I don’t remember.
What a tragedy.
I was once threatened with arrest by a policeman in Maine for leaving my very mature and intelligent 9-yr-old reading a book in the locked car–no adverse weather conditions–while I went into a store for about 15-20 minutes.
Looks like the act of leaving them wasn’t illegal but I think poor judgement.
http://blog.laborlawtalk.com/2006/11/10/alabama-babysitting-laws/
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/home-alone-or-watching-younger-siblings