Penalty for unwrapping gifts early: Arrest (12-year old arrested for opening a Christmas gift early)

The Herald ^ | 12/05/06 | Monica Chen

[FreedomCalls]

A mother convinced Rock Hill police to arrest her 12-year-old son after he unwrapped a Christmas present early. The boy's great-grandmother had specifically told him not to open his Nintendo Game Boy Advance, which she had wrapped and placed beneath the Christmas tree, according to a police report.

But on Sunday morning, she found the box of the popular handheld game console unwrapped and opened. When the boy's 27-year-old mother heard about the opened gift, she called police. ...

When the mother threatened to call the police, the boy went into his room and got the Game Boy, the report stated. She called the police anyway.

Two Rock Hill police officers responded to the home and charged the boy with petty larceny. He was charged as a juvenile and released the same day, said police spokesman Lt. Jerry Waldrop, who added the boy was never held at the jail.

"We wouldn't hold a 12-year-old," he said. ...

On Monday night, the mother said she had her son arrested because she didn't know what else to do.

[Responsibility2nd]

.....especially when no one here knows what the circumstances of this pregnancy were.

Oh, I'm sure the poor young woman married first, then became pregant. Since she is now a single mom, her poor husband must have died.

Tragic, huh?

[zeke15]

So let's see...

this little angel has shoplifted, stolen money from mom, punched a cop...and committed enough violations at school to be on the edge of getting expelled.

no problem with all of that, I'll still buy him a nice GameBoy...and put it under the tree on december 5th.

What! He opened it!!??

OH NOW THAT'S THE LAST STRAW IM CALLING THE COPS!!!

[zeke15]

GameBoy?

No wonder he's a delinquent

all his friends got PS3's

[unlearner]

"Oh, I'm sure the poor young woman married first, then became pregant. Since she is now a single mom, her poor husband must have died."

Someone I know very well married at fifteen and got pregnant several months later and ended up a single parent not too many years later.

The problem is that people here condemn her for being pregnant at fifteen without even knowing the circumstances.

A lot of people here take the position that a fifteen year old cannot give consent to sex. Where do you stand? If she cannot give consent then what do you fault her for, not aborting the baby? If you think she could give consent, then are you opposed to her being married at that age?

[unlearner]

And you have no idea whether she should be defended with regards to her having a child when she was fifteen.

If she was in trouble with the police for defending herself against her own son with a gun, would you chime in with how the mother is a victim of anti gun liberalism?

Conservatism does not preclude the use of the brain God gave you.

And by the way, kindness, mercy and gracious words do not cost you anything. They don't raise your taxes a dime. There is no need to turn conservatism into Pharisee ism.

[unlearner]

No. I am 100% pro life.

It is hypocritical to advocate this position based on a biblical world view, then go around writing condemning, slanderous statements about someone without all the facts.

We do not know if this girl was married at a young age or even raped. Furthermore, even if her child is a bastard, which so many here are assuming, she did not give into the societal pressure to kill him. That is commendable. Furthermore, she might be a repentant fornicator. This would mean that God has forgiven her, and it is wrong for others to condemn someone God has justified.

Christians bring so much judgment on themselves by doing this. I just hope those who do this turn from their error before such a thing happens to someone they care for, or fall into the same temptation.

Also, I am among the very few Christians I have discussed personally with who have NOT committed the sin of fornication. I wonder how many of this young woman's critics can say that? If they cannot, why are they such fools as to condemn someone for a sin they are guilty of even without knowing for certain she is guilty of it?

[dfwgator]

Stick him in jail with all those others who illegally removed the tags from their mattress.

[Hatteras]

"Stick him in jail with all those others who illegally removed the tags from their mattress."

Sad... I committed the offense of pulling the tags off my mattress and pillows. I have spent a lifetime on the run, continually looking over my shoulder, sleeping with one eye open. Every little sound in the middle of the night shatters my restful sleep. To all those thinking of doing it.... Don't. You'll regret it every minute of every day. Yes, I did it. And they are coming for me. My life has been a living hell....

WAIT! The sound of hoof beats again....

Who ARE those guys?!.....

[FreedomCalls]

Christians bring so much judgment on themselves by doing this.

My argument isn't so much with her behavior, or with his, or his grandmother's. It's with the cops for arresting him and not just telling the lady to deal with it herself and stop wasting their time.

[Little Ray]

Apparently y'all missed this part:

She said the boy likes attention and has a history of bad behavior. He has shoplifted from stores and stolen money from her, she said. The boy has also been inching toward expulsion from school, she added, and even punched a police officer last month. He was arrested for disorderly conduct in that incident.

The kid is a bad seed and her response was probably appropriate.

[Kozak]

No, I didn't miss it. The child is not a "bad seed". SHE is an incompetent parent, and clearly has been for the 12 years of the kids life, proof of which is her cluelessness in dealing with this problem. Parenting isn't rocket science.

[unlearner]

Yeah. I agree. I had not even commented on the main issue because I was drawn into the sideshow over her pregnancy at a young age.

I haven't seen The Nativity, but I hear that this is a major issue brought out in the story of the incarnation. Namely, Mary was in her early teens and was judged by those around her for being pregnant and not having been married yet.

This mother is at her wits end. She is ready to give up her child because she can no longer handle him. The call to the police was a plea for help. Too bad someone is not involved in this boys life who can set him straight. He is headed for hard times, and it seems to grieve his mother that he has no sense of conscience over doing wrong.

[Little Ray]

You're right. I missed the part about a 12 year old kid and a 27 year old mother...

[FreedomCalls]

The call to the police was a plea for help.

You are right.

[Silly]

Lock up the brat!

And his little dog, too!

[Between the Lines]

When I saw "Lancaster" and "York County" I thought it was Pennsylvania

York, Lancaster and Chester counties in South Carolina were settled by the Scott-Irish which immigrated from these same named counties in Pennsylvania.

[FreedomCalls]

York, Lancaster and Chester counties in South Carolina were settled by the Scott-Irish which immigrated from these same named counties in Pennsylvania.

Cool. That makes sense. Thanks!

[spinestein]

[I want to point out that many would be pointing out how girls in the same age range 13-15 would be doing the right thing not to have an abortion. The self-righteous hypocrisy is thick in here today...]



Yes, it might be hypocritical if some on this thread were to say that. However, none HAVE said that, or even mentioned abortion at all, so that makes you the "self-righteous hypocrite".

[Law is not justice but process]

Criminal lack of a father? What's the penalty for that?

I guess it is like the old prosecutor's joke: what is bigamy? Having two wives. What is the penalty? Having two wives.