Last December Tara Keener did what most any mother would do when she thought her 5-year-old son was in trouble: She raced to help him. Only because it was onto a school bus that she raced, she now faces criminal charges that could potentially land her a year in jail, just for trying to save her son.
The emergency room nurse was walking down her driveway when she saw her son, Xander, slumped over in his seat and other children crowding around him. She says the children were yelling, “Help, he’s not moving. We can’t wake him up.”
When she attempted to board the bus, the driver informed her it was illegal, which is news to me, and did nothing to stop Keener from going to help her son. Wouldn't you?
Fortunately, little Xander was just in a deep sleep, but there are plenty of things that could have been wrong to cause him to appear so despondent -- choking, a concussion, or plenty of other unthinkable things. Despite her good and totally understandable intentions, the driver reported Keener to police. She was charged with unlawfully entering a school bus and is currently awaiting trial. While it's a third-degree misdemeanor, it can come with a penalty of $2,500 and a year in jail.
Ridiculous, right? Not so. Perry County District Attorney Charles F. Chenot III told The Patriot-News:
The bus company’s main point is, we can’t let one person do this because pretty soon you’ll have all kinds of parents on there. Most parents aren’t a problem, but what do you do when a ... sex offender wants to get on the bus and get his kids off? We need to have that protection in place.
Protection, yes, but a little common sense would be nice too instead of blanket policies and rules that take none into account. Hopefully a jury will see the ludicrous nature of this "offense" and realize Keener was just acting like a protective mother. I'd like to say I can't imagine them doing anything else, but I also could have never imagined that someone would be charged just for trying to save her son.
Did you know it was illegal to board a school bus? Do you think this mother should be punished?
Image via Cast a Line/Flickr
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Comments 291
THrow me in jail!!! You will never keep me away from my kid ESPECIALLY if I thought their life was in danger. What a b*tch of a bus driver!!!
I had no idea it was illegal. And I think they should treat these on a case by case basis. This was HER kid, and it was obvious she was trying to SAVE HIM. She wasn't a pedophile trying to whisk away potential victims. Ugh.
Let me just point out that, years ago, my sister's husband shot her IN THE HEAD at CLOSE RANGE and did NOT go to prison for it. He was jailed for 2 weeks until he was bailed out. That was the only time he served in jail. And this woman could serve a YEAR for THIS???
I am outraged. And saddened.
(My sis is okay, by the way. She was extremely lucky)
This is precisely why my kids won't be riding the bus. This is outrageous and I hope that the jury sees that she was worried about her son and let it go.
I have never heard that you can't get on a school bus to get your kids. She had an understandle right on why she got on that bus and if she does get locked up for this then that judge needs his ass locked up too for sentencing her.
I think this is ridiculous! Especially since she is an EMERGENCY ROOM NURSE!
as a nurse she is by law required to be a first responder in time of physical danger. so if she seen a child in danger, whether it was hers or not, she is responding in the manner in which she is trained!
Unreal... if I thought my child was in trouble I would move heaven and earth to get to them... that was awfully cold of the bus driver. I mean really. What if the child WAS having a medical event, would the bus driver have still turned the mother in to the police? And prison time for getting on a school bus to help your own child??? Really?? Our society is so screwed up, no wonder I rarely leave my house :/
Ummm I guess I should be in jail right now then. I have boarded my son's bus many times.
I'm not sure if it's "illegal," but its almost not allowed for children to get off at a stop that's not there's. When I was in 6th grade, I tried getting off at the next stop on my bus, because it was at the corner by my baby sitter's house where my two brothers and my sister were. The bus driver made a big fuss about it. I just figured it'd make more sense for me to get off there after school, rather than having to walk 4 blocks. (Not far, but still.)