Yeah, it seems this is more than “kid tied to tree.”
Dad was asleep. Weapons I guess accessible. Food? Water? was that child being kept safe? An illegal encampment they’d been warned about. . .
I don’t think this is like mom using a harness in a supermarket.
My mom used a leash on me when I was two, we were touring Europe. We joke about it but there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. It does not harm a child and in situations mentioned above and in crowds, very practical.
I keep thinking of little Adam Walsh in a dept store.....
In less than a minute, as his granddad got distracted, an evil child predator swooped down and escorted little Adam to a brutal death.