We blogged about this case in 2008, and now Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Dave Lieber has turned it into a book. From the description:
A newspaper columnist investigates the shenanigans of a small-town police department — then pays a price for it. After he orders his misbehaving 11-year-old son to walk home from a local restaurant, police arrest the dad for two felony counts. A true-story thriller about parental responsibility, small-town corruption and the consequences of being a public figure.
And: should an Arkansas mother whose son had been thrown off the regular school bus for misbehavior face child endangerment charges for making him walk 4.5 miles to school instead? [Alkon] From Australia, should police warn parents for letting a 7-year-old visit a local shop alone, and a 10-year-old ride a bus unaccompanied? [Sydney Morning Herald via Skenazy]
5 Comments
Wow! What a shocking case of child abuse! And I know what I’m talking about. When I was 11, I walked and rode my bike all over my neighborhood with no parental supervision. And so did my friends. Guess they were abused too. Sometimes my parents sent me to the store a few blocks away to pick up some food items or even cigarettes for them when they ran low. (Yes, I’m old enough to remember when kids could legally buy cigarettes.) Pretty outrageous, huh?
The charges against Lieber were dropped, but I hope he sued the SOB’s in the police department. Maybe I should read the book….
You mean that the other kids weren’t really jealous that I “got” to walk home from school, in the dark, through Diablo Canyon? Someones’s gonna pay…
When my son was about 12 years old [he is now 30], I was picking him up from the mall when he started running his mouth and being disrespectful. I pulled off to the side of the road and made him get out of the car and walk home. It was probably a five mile walk and I watched out the window for him for two hours. I was so worried about him, but I knew I did the right thing. He never did it again. If I did that today, I would be arrested. Should we wonder why todays youth are so out of control??????
What do you mean by out of control? Today youths take less drugs and commit less violent crime than previous generation.
menane, what planted do you live on?