Stupid Parents...

[Rageaholic]

leave their 9 month old in the hands of a mentally ill girl they adopted. I think you can guess what happened.

The thing that gets me is the parents aren't being charged in the babies death, but the baby sitter is. She's facing 15 years in prison for this. Shouldn't her mental state have been taken into consideration?

A horrible story all around.

[Jester]

According to the article, the children had been left in the babysitter's care on multiple occasions without incident, and the parents believed from their experience that she was competent enough to care for the children.

Are you suggesting that mentally ill people like the babysitter in question never be allowed to care for others if they show that they can do so? Because that is what you seem to be saying, that mental illness should automatically preclude someone from being given any responsibility.

You also seem to think the parents should be held accountable. For what? For making a poor choice? Parents do that all the time, and oftentimes, tragedy happens due to their poor choices, but they are choices we all make, and not something any reasonable person would suggest be cause to lay blame for the tragedy at the parents' feet.

In this case, the parents' experience with the babysitter suggested to them that she was responsible and reliable. What happened was not something that would be easily predictable. I'm sure they took her mental state into consideration, and their experiences with her told them that this would not be an issue.

Personally, I think the babysitter is solely at fault here for the death, but her mental state is not being taken into consideration by the judge. Which makes him at fault for gross misconduct. Especially if the article is correct regarding the way the sentencing and plea went.

[s_stabeler]

there are two seperate issues here.
1) what the babysitter did- and to me, what the babysitter did was gross negligence in leaving the 9-month year old alone in the bath. It's certainly true that the sentence would be appropriate, if not lenient, if the accused was not mentally ill. With her being mentally ill? I don't know. At the very least, it's clear she needs supervision herself.
2) the issue of how the judge behaved. Since it seems to me that it is more or less a plea bargain ( that is, the judge indicated he was minded to give a 5-year sentence, then turned around and gave a 15-year sentence) then the judge behaved badly. does it justify a new trial? probably- with a different judge.

[Rageaholic]

The problem is that this girl is an adopted daughter, not just a babysitter. She might not have had a choice in the matter. I might have been harsh thinking the parents should have been punished, but I also don't know if the daughter should have been punished. ESPECIALLY 15 years in prison. Judge effed up big time.

[Sleepwalker]

Tha fuck? An IQ of 65? Deaf, schizophrenic and bipolar? The affect of a young kid rather than an adult? The judge fucked up big time.

[wolfie]

The adopted daughter, although 20 years old, functioned as a 12 year old (due to her mental disability)? In many jurisdictions, it would be strictly illegal to leave an infant in the care of a 12 year old. While she had shown herself capable of taking care of the child UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, children don't have the maturity to be able to take the right course of action when things go wrong. The PARENTS should have faced charges over this.

Also, leading her (and her lawyer) to believe that she'd get a short sentence if she pled guilty, then turning around and calling for 15 years? Passing sentence before the defense attorney's closing arguments? That's judicial misconduct - and, from what I've read, par for the course for Florida judges.

[BlaqueKatt]

The thing that gets me is the parents aren't being charged in the babies death, but the baby sitter is.

and had the parents done the same thing as the sitter, they STILL wouldn't be charged because "they've suffered enough" -_-

[Jester]

The adopted daughter, although 20 years old, functioned as a 12 year old (due to her mental disability)? In many jurisdictions, it would be strictly illegal to leave an infant in the care of a 12 year old.

And what jurisdictions are those? Can you cite any? I wonder because in most places I've ever lived, babysitters are often anywhere from 10-17 years old. And I've never heard of such a thing being illegal. It may not be the brightest if the babysitter isn't the brightest, but illegal? I have my doubts.

[s_stabeler]

it depends on the kid who you're leaving with the babysitter, I suspect. the kid who died was 9 months old, and is thus pretty fragile. while a kid whoi is 5 or 6 is far more tough, and could probably be left with a young babysitter provided meals were taken care of.

[HYHYBT]

I'd think the opposite. A baby at nine months doesn't do much, while at five years they can think of all kinds of trouble to get into.

Wish there was some way to find out why a judge would either lie like that or so drastically change their mind.