Say What!?
Kid Draws on Sidewalk & Mom Gets 50 Hours of Community Service
One minute, Susan Mortensen is watching her 4-year-old daughter make lovely chalk drawings on rocks in a park. The next, she is in court getting sentenced to 50 hours of community service for vandalism. Oh the joys of parenting.
She had no idea her pint-size Picasso was committing a crime when Officer Stacy Rogers came over to confront them. Now the Richmond, Virginia mom must paint about 200 outdoor posts as her debt to society.
Now generally, I think parents are partly responsible for their children's bad behavior. Constant hitting, fighting, cursing, stealing, and things of that nature are often signs something is going on at home. But this situation is ridiculous. Chalk drawings SHOULD NOT be a crime. I would have let my child do it too. It's not spray paint. It's not even crayon. It will easily wash away.
However, according to Officer Rogers the little girl was "destroying" property. Apparently any drawing is considered graffiti, whether it's a gang sign or sunflowers. "It is all the same thing," said Ralph White, a park manager. "A couple of weeks ago, I was covering over pornographic drawings done in chalk. It doesn't matter what the medium is. It's offensive." Is it really? That logic sounds completely asinine to me.
I should mention that the cop complained that during the reprimand, Mortensen responded with "attitude and curse words." I can't blame this mom for her reaction, though. I would have been pissed off too. Don't they have real crimes to fight? I am sure there are plenty of other parents out there who need to be punished -- like the child batterers or those who use their kids to shoplift. Now those are crimes. These cops must be incredibly bored to go after a mom for her toddler’s chalk drawings. Talk about a waste of the court’s time and the taxpayers' dime.
Do you think this mom deserved to be punished?
Images via Horia Varlan/Flickr
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sofia0587
Tracey Plummer
Do I think she deserved it? Probably not, but when you mouth off to an officer, that is what you get. If she had stayed polite he probably would have let it go with a warning.
mom
camsmom02
Wow, I used to live in Richmond, VA! I find a chalk drawing by a child, and 50 hours of community service a bit much!! But then again, what do I know!! With most of my replies on the site, there's always someone that wants to disagree!
elle7777
She was rude and cussed him out which pissed him off. If she just would have said "Sorry. Won't happen again" that would have been the end of it. And the truth of the matter is not everyone wants your kid's chalk drawings all over a public park. Save it for your driveway.
cmjaz
Heather Duso Johnson
Why I think it's silly I understand why was sentenced especially if she gave the officer lip. If you read the article you would learn she had a prior for destruction of property of Belle Isle. That's probably why it seems extra harsh.
Caera
The mom deserves to be punished for using attitude and curse words. That was supremely stupid.
lish
lish