Nothing "convenient" about it. I stated the choice that the guy was actually making according to his own words.
Look, I'm a single guy who bears the brunt of the paranoia of parents who find their children near me whether through their fault or not. It infuriates me to be treated with suspicion. I enjoy the company of children, most of them, in small doses. I am not a criminal.
And the others are right - there is a very real danger of an accusation that it will be difficult to disprove, especially if the child is coached into testifying for the prosecution. The situation isn't the kid's fault.
And so what we're really talking about here is whether a man can face obloquy to save a child who is strange to him. The choice to keep one's reputation and freedom safe and let the thing slid is a perfectly legitimate one, and is the one the guy made. Most often the kid would be OK and we wouldn't be having this conversation. Sometimes - this time - not. And when it isn't the guy still has to face an outcome he could have prevented, and this guy does.
It sucks. It's rotten, it's unfair, and I don't really blame the guy for making the wrong decision here, but it was the wrong decision. IMHO.
Of course it was *wrong*.
But it was safer than subjecting yourself to a self-rightous mob.
"I stated the choice that the guy was actually making..."
No you didn't. They guy never CHOSE for the kid to die.
Sheeeesh.
BTW, I agree with the rest of your post. He made a bad decision, but ONLY with the benefit of hindsight.
So he "does the right thing," goes to prison and his wife and children, assuming he has any, are deprived of their principle source of support. How long does he remain behind bars? And what is happening to his children who are growing up without a father? He may have been thinking about more than himself. He may have been thinking about his elderly parent, dependent on him for daily care and support. What happens to that parent while he's in prison? What happens to that parent who now has the added misery and shame of having a son who's a convicted felon?
There may be a lot more than meets the eye here.