After getting the further details you provide I'm wondering if there is even more to this story...
Posted on 11/16/2012 7:40:57 PM PST by expat1000
New Jersey School crossing guard placed a frantic call to police after seeing a young girl getting into an unfamiliar car.
A man was almost arrested on abduction charges after picking up the wrong girl from school. Art Deaner picked up 9-year-old Courtney who he does not know instead of the 6-year-old Courtney he was supposed to take home.
As a favor to the girl’s mother Deaner went to the Gloucester City School, in New Jersey to pick up six-year-old Courtney Fetters, instead he drove away with nine-year-old Courtney Durr. The mistaken identity almost landed him in jail.
Okay, I asked my husband if he would have known my children if he picked them up from school. He said, “Absolutely yes I would have known your girls”.
With that said, I am sure he would have known who was getting in the car.
I don’t think the man was the girl’s father.
My husband wasn’t the father. He knew my girls.
why have the names of the girls been revealed? Is this a detail we really need to know?
Not blaming the girl, but by age 9 her parents have really screwed up if she doesn’t know better than to get in the car with a man she doesn’t know.
bump
This is just so friggin creepy in oh so many ways....speechless
Not the lovechild, idiot. The legitimate one.
I could actually see this happening, if someone had a large SUV or a van or something, and the kid was VERY quiet. Combine those factors with the guy talking on the phone or being in a hurry/busy or what not. I can see it.
If I were the parents of the girl that got picked up by mistake, I’d be VERY pissed at her for getting in a car with a stranger, and I’d be furious with the school for allowing her to go with them!
I see what you are saying, but your husband would know his step-daughters. Was the man in the story something less than a husband - maybe just a friend?
Yes, agree. Of course I am speaking of before distractions. I would not want to send a child on the streets today.
Pretty terrifying, but in this case apparently the family friend didn’t know the Courtney he was supposed to pick up very well. Also she had gotten a haircut recently (the right Courtney), adding to the problem.
AND... the wrong Courtney apparently was ALSO supposed to be picked up that day by a family friend who SHE apparently didn’t really know.
So you put it all together and... oops!
I would never send an unknown to pick up my child. I don’t know if the man was unknown. If so, I guess I would have told my child that Mr. So & So will pick you up after school.
Why would someone who did not abduct someone almost get arrested on abduction charges? This article and some of the comments on this thread are among the dumbest things I have ever read on the internet.
reading comprehension gone to sleep?
As much as it pains me to admin my shortcomings, I've driven my kids all the way to school in the morning before and didn't notice the conniving little farts were still in their pajamas until they got out of the car.
I don't know if everyone makes these sort of foolish and sloppy mistakes, but if you get up late and it's a mad rush to load up and get out of the garage, things happen. When you are picking them up in the car line after school, it can be daunting... you are paranoid about running over a kid, there are crossing guards yelling at people and the traffic is gnarly. I can see myself being so distracted with everything else that I would actually be so dense as to forget to check and see if I have the right kids before I drove off.
I could admit to a lot more embarrassing stuff, but I think that's enough to cover it for now... plus my wife might read this
Yeah... expecting to get picked up by an unfamiliar person asking for her by name. I guess that explains her mistake, but the fellow...? “Excuse me little girl, it’s my daughter I want to get, not you”
Oh DUH! Two helpful strangers. Two girls expecting helpful strangers.
Silly mix up. If I had a little girl or boy who I wanted a friend to get, I would give the girl or boy the name of the friend on a piece of paper, and tell him or her be sure to ask the friend’s name and check it before getting in.
The driver did not know the girl. He was doing a favor for her mother.
Code Words People !!
At the age of six, my kids and I had a code word worked out. If anyone had to do this for me, the code word had to be uttered.
Otherwise........STRANGER DANGER....
Talk about unconcerned parenting. Why would a parent of a young child let a man pick her up at school, when it is possible that man doesnt even know the daughter?
So this parents, doesn’t care that their daughter gets into cars with strangers. This man agrees to pick up a child he doesnt even know.
I have a 2 year old, and I am extremely selective who watches her when I need someone to watch her. I cannot imagine that changing.
So weird!!!
It did not say they were in a relationship or that he would otherwise have recognized the girl.
That was my thought.
In fact, two girls, both named Courtney, expecting helpful strangers.
Personally, I wouldn't have one of my kids picked up by someone who wasn't well known to the child, even if that person was well known to me. Especially at age 6 or 9. Actually, there are few people I would have pick up a child that age for me, even of people I know. But that's just me. There are lots of parents who do.
After getting the further details you provide I'm wondering if there is even more to this story...
I think I just got dumber by reading this thread. It might be the stupidest thing on FR ever. The only thing more asanine than the article is the response.
My brother in law says he could ALMOST make the same mistake picking up his own daughter. He says its like the Jewish version of children of the corn.
My sons go to school quiet often in their pajamas. Of course, the classroom is our dining room. :O)
This guy doesn’t learn. Says he’ll take a picture with him next time. I would be telling the mother “THERE WILL NOT BE A NEXT TIME. PERIOD”
I used to pick my nephews son up from school. When ever I did I would have to be at the office before school dismissed. They would check against preapproved list to pick up and you had to show ID. They would have the children being picked up come to the office.
On rereading the article I see I was wrong about that. The driver had some familiarity (obviously not much) with the girl he should have picked up. It was the girl he mistakenly picked up whom he did not know.
I can easily imagine myself in the same situation as the driver, trying to do a favor for one of my female friends with a young daughter. The odds that I would pick up a same-named wrong girl are ridiculously low, but what if it happened? Would bystanders still assume AFTER I returned the girl to the school that I had tried to kidnap her?
That is apparently what happened here. That is insane. A woman driver who made the same mistake would never have been treated this way. If I am ever asked to pick up someone else's child at school, I will refuse. I will not take the risk of running into rabid idiots who assume that because I am an unfamiliar male that I am probably evil.
In a coffee shop today, I listened to a mother boast that she had trained her three year old daughter not to like men. She loudly repeated this several times. She was not kidding. Rank misandry. The people she was talking with did not object. Apparently they agreed with her.
2012 America. Not the place it used to be. Not even close.
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