Posted on 08/10/2017 9:39:48 AM PDT by Architect of Avalon
Two teen babysitters are facing child endangerment and assault charges after a disturbing video was reportedly posted online that appeared to show them laughing while putting a crying baby into a refrigerator and shutting the door, authorities said.
The girls, whose names were not released because they’re juveniles, were babysitting the infant in Danvers on Monday when the shocking video was posted to Snapchat, according to published reports.
The video, which was picked up by news outlets around the country, appeared to show the girls putting the crying infant sideways into a shelf inside the refrigerator, closing the door and laughing while the baby can be heard screaming inside.
After several seconds, the girls can be seen taking the baby back out and one of them can be heard laughing and saying, “See she’s OK.”
Essex District Attorney spokesman Steve O’Connell said Danvers and Swampscott cops were notified Monday of an incident involving an infant, and the two girls were placed under arrest.
The girls were arraigned Tuesday in Essex Juvenile Court in Salem on charges of child endangerment and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
“The refrigerator was the dangerous weapon,” O’Connell told the Herald yesterday.
In a statement yesterday, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Children and Families said the agency “received a report on this situation and is investigating in collaboration with law enforcement.”
A Swampscott woman believed to be a relative of the baby declined to comment outside her home last night.
In an interview with WCVB-TV (Ch. 5), the baby’s mother said one of the girls was her niece.
“My daughter is OK, I want everyone to know that I was not aware of the situation and it’s very unfortunate,” she said. “It’s very foolish. ... They didn’t do it trying to harm my daughter, they did it as, like, playing around.”
The mother added, “I will no longer be leaving my children with my niece or her friend ever again in my life.”
That the girls were said to have recorded the alleged abuse on video and decided to post it online came as a shock to many Danvers residents.
“It’s really disgusting,” said Al Mailloux, 72, of nearby Lynn. “What happened to the morals of kids? I just don’t understand. I just don’t know what these two were thinking. Obviously, they weren’t.”
A man who would identify himself only as Joe, 44, of Peabody, said he hoped the girls would face serious consequences.
“They should be punished,” he said. “The justice system needs to do something.”
Oh please.. were you an only child or something?
Children will and do stupid things, always have, always will, no matter how “proper” their upbringing... a proper parent recognizes a teachable moment when it occurs.... so that it is less likely to happen again, but if you think for one minute that this is somehow a statement on society as a whole, you are reaching.
Yes, they shouldn’t have done it, but guess what, there isn’t an adult alive who grew up with siblings who can say they never did anything stupid to or with them.... Difference was there wasn’t videotape of them doing it back when they were kids.
Oh, please! O’Connell is working within the constraints of the law. Somewhere along the line, the inhabitants of Danvers forgot to anticipate “assault with an icebox” and failed to pass the necessary law. Seems to me he chose the appropriate law with which to file charges.
I could agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.
How would YOU like to be forced into and locked in a refrigerator against your will? The baby could be heard screaming after they closed the door. Do you ever think about how the victims in these crimes feel? Damned right the authorities needed to be involved. Stuff your moronic comment.
“Difference was there wasn’t videotape of them doing it back when they were kids.”
—
No there wasn’t,but these kids MADE the videotape and then posted it for publicity,and laughs.
.
CNN host Alisyn Camerota issued a statement saying “it was only children playing a hide and seek game, nothing more than playing. The child did not die, this time!”.
Fiction? Maybe not.
Oh The Humanity!!!
What about all the times when kids would put themselves and other kids inside those big front load washers?
Should they have been charged with assault with a deadly washing machine?
Two things, one this was not a matter for the police. Two, it only becomes a matter because of the lack of effective discipline in the home these days because of the interference by the state in the proper rearing of kids. Even if we had done something like this when I was a kid, we would have welcomed the involvement of the police because there would have been nothing they could do which would have been worse than what my parents would have considered.
“Sick”
Very
Until crap like this is changed I expect nothing better from feral kids.
No difference between seven year old kids playing around and the babysitters charged with protecting an innocent, helpless baby endangering that babe?
Not the same in my mind.
More problems for others with these two on the way up.
There is a generation, where many are being raised without any conscience. But that’s what happens when ‘the Government will take care of you’ becomes the norm. Why worry about consequences when there usually are none for malfeasance. Our recent Admin showed you can break the Law and, if you are of the right political persuasion, nothing will happen to you. I do think consequences should be harsh for these girls. The baby could have suffocated. And way too many want ‘fame’ on YouTube, so they video their dastardly acts and wait for the adulation from their peers. Sick society we are living in............
My brother tied me to a garage door rhen he was 12 and I was about 3. I’m sure my mom told him to make sure I didn’t leave the yard.
This is just great. Now that it has gone public, ISIS is going to use this technique to REALLY terrorize Americans. Have we gone nuts? Let the parents discipline the girls and stay out of it.
Yeah, it’s the same thing, Except, you know, you can’t suffocate in a dog crate.
2 girls put a crying INFANT into a fridge and close the door. People here are defending them saying “girls will be girls.” Boggles the mind.
Those girls need to be taught a hard lesson about cruelty before they do something worse. Life and kindness mean nothing to them.
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