Am I the only one who feels for the poor mother who was arrested when her 3-year-old was found wandering outside of a hotel down the street from their home in the middle of the night? Listen to the details. I promise you'll get one of those that could have been my kid shivers.
The 22-year-old mom wasn't drunk. She wasn't on drugs. She hadn't left her child home alone. She was sleeping. Sleeping, in the middle of the night! Imagine that! (Like most moms, you probably can't, but you might at least have a faint recollection of the fact that sleeping is not usually considered a crime, not before you have kids anyway.) Samantha Boyd was sleeping when her 3-year-old son simply woke up, opened the front door, and walked out of the house. Shivering yet?
Thankfully, the little boy only got as far as a hotel down the street when a bartender looked outside, noticed him, and of course, called the cops. Shortly thereafter, Boyd woke up, saw her son was gone, freaked out, and called the cops herself. That's when they arrested her. Huh??
Okay, I'm trying to see this from the side of the law enforcement officials, I really am, and I understand that they see abused, neglected kids all the time and that it's better to be safe than sorry. Perhaps procedure dictated that Boyd had to be arrested. But I can't stop imagining what it must have been like for her to wake up and realize, through a groggy haze, that her son was missing. Did they tell her he was okay before they arrested her? Did she know where he was, or who was taking care of him while they put her in cuffs?
It's likely that the only mistake Boyd made that night was forgetting to deadbolt the door, though in my experience, a 3-year-old can be shockingly adept at working locks, so maybe she didn't even "slip up" at all. I just hope that when Boyd goes to court in a couple of weeks to face charges of child endangerment that the judge has the same reaction I did: That could have been my kid.
Do you think Boyd is guilty of any crime?
Image via Nicolaitan/Flickr
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Comments 142
she isn't guilty of anything, these things happen sometimes.
What was she supposed to do at night? Lock the kid in his bedroom?
It was an accident. Obviously not even close to neglect.
Poor mom. :( I remember a story of a toddler who got out of the hotel room while mom was sleeping, took her keys, and took the car for a drive. The officers came to question/arrest her and WHILE the police were THERE talking with the mom, he did it again!! Needless to say, they left the poor mom alone.
Kids don't need super strength to open hotel doors. My family owns a condo and my 23 month old opens the door ALL THE TIME with no problem at all. We always have to put that swinging lock that holds the door from being opened all the way.
I feel for that momma :/ Stuff does happen
They were not at a hotel, they were at their house. The boy was found AT THE HOTEL down the street.
I don't believe she should have been arrested...it's not illegal to sleep at night.
When my husband and I got married, we realized our then 4 yr old could unlock and open doors. We had just moved to a new neighborhood when our very very NICE neighbor informed us that our son had rang his doorbell at 6:30 a.m. that morning. My son asks the guy why his grass is on his feet lol. Apparently my son also tried to get in his shed (which looks like a barn) to see the "horses". He snuck back in the house and we never would've known if not for the neighbor. We put chains up that night. What I am trying to say is, there's no real way of telling what your kids can do till they stop your heart with their actions. Give the lady a break.