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Grandparents Charged with Felony Child Neglect

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avalon1961

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WV

My husband and I have been charged with felony child neglect because my 3 year old granddaughter got out of bed in the middle of the night, left our home, and wandered two blocks away from our house.

I had custody of my granddaughter because my daughter has been diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and is unable to care for her.

I have several questions-

1. I am a teacher and my husband is a carpenter. Nieither of us have criminal histories, substance abuse problems, or domestic issues. We honestly are law abiding citizens and I am wondering if these charges may possibly be dropped based on the fact that we have never committed crimes in the past.

2. Is there any chance I will regain custody of my granddaughter? Child Protective Services has twice agreed to return her to our home. Once, when the incident happened and the twice at the abuse/neglect hearing. Unfortunately, we were arrested and then my daughter filed for custody. That seemed to change everything and now her future seems to be up in the air.

3. How long does this process last?

4. We are on bond right now. Is it likely that our bond will be revoked and we will go to jail?

5. How do you plead to something like this? We are charged with "child neglect creating a risk of injury." Of course, we were neglectful in not putting a deadbolt on the door but I don't think this is criminal activity. The baby was asleep in bed and our doors were locked. She has never done anything like that in the past. I'm not even sure how this constitutes a felony.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? WV
 


Ohiogal

Queen Bee
The child got out of your home in the middle of the night and you did not notice. Your home was not properly locked and it led to the child being able to put herself in a dangerous situation.

And you don't understand why that would be a felony?
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
The child got out of your home in the middle of the night and you did not notice. Your home was not properly locked and it led to the child being able to put herself in a dangerous situation.

And you don't understand why that would be a felony?
Until a child actually does something like that, no one could foresee that the child actually would do something like that....or that a determined child wouldn't be able to get a chair, and undo a deadbolt. Heck, my yellow lab could undo my deadbolt. (which is why I no longer have that yellow lab).

My two year old granddaughter shocked the heck out of me a couple of weeks ago. She was having a meltdown/temper tantrum (way overtired, we just got back from the zoo) because she wanted to both go with her mother, AND stay home with me. We finally just decided that she was staying home and her mother left.

As soon as I turned my back, she shot out the front door and started running down the street in the direction that her mother's car took. I wasn't too far behind her but I had no shoes on, and she got a whole block down the street before I caught her.

I would never have anticipated that in a million years. Therefore I do have some sympathy for caregivers when children do the unexpected. I am not sure that its fair to take a child away or charge them with a felony if nothing like that has ever happened before, and could not have reasonably been anticipated.
 

KimInNY

Member
Until a child actually does something like that, no one could foresee that the child actually would do something like that....or that a determined child wouldn't be able to get a chair, and undo a deadbolt. Heck, my yellow lab could undo my deadbolt. (which is why I no longer have that yellow lab).

My two year old granddaughter shocked the heck out of me a couple of weeks ago. She was having a meltdown/temper tantrum (way overtired, we just got back from the zoo) because she wanted to both go with her mother, AND stay home with me. We finally just decided that she was staying home and her mother left.

As soon as I turned my back, she shot out the front door and started running down the street in the direction that her mother's car took. I wasn't too far behind her but I had no shoes on, and she got a whole block down the street before I caught her.

I would never have anticipated that in a million years. Therefore I do have some sympathy for caregivers when children do the unexpected. I am not sure that its fair to take a child away or charge them with a felony if nothing like that has ever happened before, and could not have reasonably been anticipated.


You just said, When she was 2 she ran out after her mother and you barely were able to catch her,

Sounds like you did know and should have taken better percaution.
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
My youngest was Houdini. You took your eyes off her for 10 seconds and she was gone. I had to put a leash on her when we went to stores because she would NOT stay put. Same for taking the dog on a walk; she would not stay put while cleaning up after the dog. When you are sleeping, are you cognizant of what is going on around you? Unless you are prepared to always be dealing with escapes, you are going to be happily sleeping.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
My youngest was Houdini. You took your eyes off her for 10 seconds and she was gone. I had to put a leash on her when we went to stores because she would NOT stay put. Same for taking the dog on a walk; she would not stay put while cleaning up after the dog. When you are sleeping, are you cognizant of what is going on around you? Unless you are prepared to always be dealing with escapes, you are going to be happily sleeping.
That was my point as well.

My niece was a Houdini as well, and her parents had to take extra precautions. However, they didn't know that they needed to do it until it happened the first time.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
You just said, When she was 2 she ran out after her mother and you barely were able to catch her,

Sounds like you did know and should have taken better percaution.
She is two now, and just did that two weeks ago, so no, I had no forewarning that she would do something like that. I DO however, have forewarning NOW. So now, if she is having that kind of tantrum/meltdown again, I will lock the screen door, because that lock is hard to unlock, even for an adult.
 

TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
The Child and I lived for several years on my parents' property on a lake. We lived in a mobile home with a sliding glass door. A heavy sliding glass door. When The Child was 2.5yrs old, she decided she was going to Granny & Grandpa's early one morning (before I woke up). She managed to slide the door open and walked over to my parents' house. Needless to say, after I located her (I woke up not too long after she left) I promptly put a lock on the screen and the sliding door so she couldn't sneak out again. :cool:

My mom was on the phone once talking to a friend, while my youngest brother was outside in our fenced in backyard (he was about 2yrs old). Mom had been watching him out the kitchen window, but turned away briefly. When she turned back around, brother had climbed the clothes line pole. :eek:

Children will do the darndest things. :p
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
The Child and I lived for several years on my parents' property on a lake. We lived in a mobile home with a sliding glass door. A heavy sliding glass door. When The Child was 2.5yrs old, she decided she was going to Granny & Grandpa's early one morning (before I woke up). She managed to slide the door open and walked over to my parents' house. Needless to say, after I located her (I woke up not too long after she left) I promptly put a lock on the screen and the sliding door so she couldn't sneak out again. :cool:

My mom was on the phone once talking to a friend, while my youngest brother was outside in our fenced in backyard (he was about 2yrs old). Mom had been watching him out the kitchen window, but turned away briefly. When she turned back around, brother had climbed the clothes line pole. :eek:

Children will do the darndest things. :p
Except now, when they do the darndest things, their parents or grandparents get hit up with felony neglect charges and the kids get put into foster care.:(

I see no problem with filing charges against a parent or caregiver who had warning that a child would do something like that, and who didn't take precautions. Its when a child does something that is completely unexpected, that I feel for the parent or grandparent.
 

avalon1961

Junior Member
The child got out of your home in the middle of the night and you did not notice. Your home was not properly locked and it led to the child being able to put herself in a dangerous situation.

And you don't understand why that would be a felony?
I'm not saying there was no wrongdoing on our part. I am saying that I don't understand how it could be considered criminal behavior. We took the ordinary precautions that anyone would take which included locking both the screen door, the entrance door, and making sure she was sound asleep before we went to bed.

If you were in a traffic accident, and it was your fault because you didn't foresee that the car in front of you would suddenly slam on his brakes, should you be charged with felony child neglect because your child was in the car and could have been injured?
 

avalon1961

Junior Member
She is two now, and just did that two weeks ago, so no, I had no forewarning that she would do something like that. I DO however, have forewarning NOW. So now, if she is having that kind of tantrum/meltdown again, I will lock the screen door, because that lock is hard to unlock, even for an adult.
Be careful with the screen door. That was my main mistake. We have an older metal screen door and the lock is very hard to open and close. I thought my granddaughter could never get past it.
 

avalon1961

Junior Member
We had a preliminary hearing this morning and our charges have been deferred until September. My attorney said that the prosecutor will likely drop the charges if we comply with CPS. This is a relief.
 
If it hasn't been done already, I suggest you do a walk through of your house and do all the necessary "child-proofing" on all doors, stairs, cabinets, screens, windows, electrical outlets, etc. Take pictures and present them to your lawyer and CPS to help prove that you have learned from this experience and have, to the best of your ability, safe guarded all dangerous aspects of the house. Its too hard to predict if the child outsmart all your hard work, but it shows good faith on your part.

Best of luck in Sept.
 
It seems like overnight children can do things that they could never do before. When my son was a toddler, I was cutting vegatables in the kitchen on our island. I turned around to the sink for a minute. leaving the knife on the island (not hanging off the edge, but on the counter), next thing I know, I feel something jabbing my leg. I turned around and my son had grabbed that knife! I swear the week before he couldn't even reach the top of the counter! Another time, I went to the bathroom and in the minute I was in there, he opened the door and ran outside! I didn't know he could even unlock the door! Fortunately nothing happened that caused him any harm either time, but it taught me a lesson!
 

fairisfair

Senior Member
I have to agree with Ldij and the others here. I seriously doubt that these grandparents are going to be convicted of felony child endangerment. Not unless there is WAY more to this story, and recurring events.

When B was about 18 months old, and I took a 5 minute shower, he was able to unscrew the window lock, yep, it was locked AND had a security lock on it, unlock the window, remove the screen and crawl through and out onto the balconey. He was half way down the stairs when I caught him.

Fer crying out loud, we all gotta shower and sleep sometime....
 

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