Posted on 09/06/2007 7:18:13 AM PDT by Froufrou
No charges will be filed against a middle school administrator whose toddler daughter died last month when she was left in the back seat of her mother's SUV during a heat wave, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Leaving the child in the car for the work day was "a substantial lapse of due care" but did not meet the definition of reckless conduct necessary for prosecution, said Clermont County Prosecutor Don White.
Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby, 40, is assistant principal at Glen Este Middle School, about 20 miles east of Cincinnati. Authorities said she left her 2-year-old daughter, Cecilia, strapped into a car seat for about eight hours on Aug. 23 while she was at work at the school.
Temperatures outside reached about 100 degrees.
That wasn’t referenced in the main article posted. Yes, that does put this in a completely different category.
Richard Gere has said that a time or two.
An infant left alone in a car for eight hours? You bet something smells and the sun doesn't even have to be out.
Thank you.
Any idea if the parents of the students that attend her school would cause enough of an uproar to get her at least fired? I mean come on, if she’s that irresponsible with her own child.....
Yes, but the beating on the negligent mom started BEFORE we knew about “3x before”.
This is becoming more obvious as I read this thread... your conclusions are correct.... I cannot even say more, I feel ill.... and completely horrified...
Leaving a kid in the car for an indefinite period of time is negligent. The kid should have been on his mind, because they were in his care. Nothing else should have taken priority. If they want to plead mental defect fine, otherwise there's no excuse.
"Prison exists either to punish or to rehabilitate or to protect society"
You left out the part about being a deterent. Folks should be given notice that if you're negligent like this, and leave a kid in the car to die, you will be jailed. The intent of that is to cause those that are otherwise preoccupied, to focus on there kid's welfare. Obviously, these people aren't even aware of their kid's presence.
This was the second time she left a small child in the car unattended. The first time she received a warning only as the child didn't die.
I have four kids whom I love dearly. I also know my husband and I have made mistakes along the way, and I thank God that none of our mistakes have ever cost us the health or wellbeing of our children. There but for the grace of God go I.
(But not leaving your child intentionally in the car in the heat -- that's a different story entirely.)
This is my 2 cents....
If the mom had a briefcase filled with a million dollars would she have left it in the car? Would she not have thought about it at least once during 8 hours?
Cecelia Schlaby was priceless. Yet her mother did not even think of her ONCE during her eight hours at work. That, with leaving her in the car in the first place, points to at least negligence.
I hope the mother is not allowed to continue in her job working with children. And I sincerely hope the Clermont County prosecutor loses his job in the next election.
No doubt, the child should have been on his mind. But people make mistakes. When routines are broken, when people are under great stress, they often don't function the way they should. He was clearly responsible for his baby's death, and he and the mother will live with that horrible fact for the rest of their lives.
You left out the part about being a deterent. Folks should be given notice that if you're negligent like this, and leave a kid in the car to die, you will be jailed. The intent of that is to cause those that are otherwise preoccupied, to focus on there kid's welfare. Obviously, these people aren't even aware of their kid's presence.
I thought I was clear that I don't believe it would be a deterrent. It's not as if the man would have thought, "Say. I'd better not forget to take my baby to daycare, because if I leave him in the car and he dies, I might go to jail." Going to jail would not be nearly the deterrent that losing a child would be -- and yet he still made the mistake.
I heard this story over 20 years ago, and it still haunts me ... and it's not my child. This man lost his entire family that day, and he knows he's responsible. I'm sure he is haunted every holiday, every birthday, every anniversary, every time he enters a car. Maybe someone in his situation could go to new parents classes at hospitals, speak at community functions or go on Oprah and share his story. I'm sure the pain in his voice would be much more of a deterrent to other parents than prison time would ever be.
God love you!
I hold a different standard for men than women. People can slam me for this but motherly instinct should have kicked in.
Baby....donuts
Baby....donuts
Hmmmmm, I’m not seeing much of a choice here.
I am pretty understanding of these things, and I think that the torture these parents go through is probably punishment enough... But I think that a- sending a kid to daycare is part of the problem (someone should have thought about where the child was for a few hours) and b— the man you talked about at least thought about his family mid-morning, which jogged his memory. I seriously question where we are as a society when it is considered acceptable for two parents to not know where their 2 year old is for 8 hours (as supposedly happened in this situation).
That’s what happens when we aren’t raising our own children.
Criminal charges generally require intent, not necessarily to achieve the outcome, but at least to do the act that led to the outcome. There is simply no evidence here that the woman intentionally left the child in the car. This is why any conviction that might have been obtained at trial “would have certainly been overturned on appeal”.
I still believe that even the most conscientious of parents make mistakes. I'll go further. I believe that, at some point, every one of us has had a lapse in judgment that could have been serious -- a time when our eyes left the road, when we were distracted by something and careless -- but most of us have never suffered tragic consequences due to those lapses. Some of these situations might even end up as part of the family legends, funny stories that are retold on holidays about how Billy climbed on the roof one time, or Sally got lost at the mall. It wouldn't be funny if Billy fell and broke his neck, or Sally got kidnapped and murdered. But they usually don't, thank God, so we parents laugh and commiserate about the frustrating, exhausting, joyous days with young children.
Our children have given me many a gray hair. I'm sure their angels are exhausted, and I thank God that by His graciousness they have been kept safe, sometimes in spite of their all too fallible parents.
What was she doing, looking for a missing donut? Un-freaking-real. This woman must have been as dedicated to motherhood as she is to her salaried job. No wonder the poor toddler died of neglect.
The phrase "a mother's love" is losing its meaning.
This is just horrible. Why did she even bother to have the child? She’s been leaving her in the car alone since last winter? And considering different people have reported seeing her doing this numerous times, I’m sure she was doing it since the daughter was a baby.
It makes me sad and angry to think that this poor little thing died like this at the age of two. I’m sure she was frightened every time she was left alone in the car. Two years old. Despicable, inexcusable.
Hey I just remembered - there was a police officer who was charged because he left his police DOG in the car. Sick world.
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