Mother charged with child endangerment for Sal. Army contrib
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DeanC
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Post subject: Mother charged with child endangerment for Sal. Army contrib Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:43 am |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:54 am Posts: 5270 Location: Minneapolis
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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-zI ... QD8VBRSM00
Quote: Mom Faces Trial for Leaving Child in Car
By DON BABWIN – 4 hours ago
CHICAGO (AP) — Treffly Coyne was out of her car for just minutes and no more than 10 yards away.
But that was long and far enough to land her in court after a police officer spotted her sleeping 2-year-old daughter alone in the vehicle; Coyne had taken her two older daughters to pour $8.29 in coins into a Salvation Army kettle.
Minutes later, she was under arrest — the focus of both a police investigation and a probe by the state's child welfare agency. Now the case that has become an Internet flash point for people who either blast police for overstepping their authority or Coyne for putting a child in danger.
The 36-year-old suburban mother is preparing to go on trial Thursday on misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and obstructing a peace officer. If convicted, she could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,500, even though child welfare workers found no credible evidence of abuse or neglect.
On Dec. 8 Coyne decided to drive to Wal-Mart in the Chicago suburb of Crestwood so her children and a young friend could donate the coins they'd collected at her husband's office.
Even as she buckled 2-year-old Phoebe into the car, the girl was asleep. When Coyne arrived at the store, she found a spot to park in a loading zone, right behind someone tying a Christmas tree onto a car.
"It's sleeting out, it's not pleasant, I don't want to disturb her, wake her up," Coyne said this week. "It was safer to leave her in the safety and warmth of an alarmed car than take her."
So Coyne switched on the emergency flashers, locked the car, activated the alarm and walked the other children to the bell ringer.
She snapped a few pictures of the girls donating money and headed back to the car. But a community service officer blocked her way.
"She was on a tirade, she was yelling at me," Coyne said. The officer, Coyne said, didn't want to hear about how close Coyne was, how she never set foot inside the store and was just there to let the kids donate money, or how she could always see her car.
Coyne telephoned her husband, Tim Janecyk, who advised her not to say anything else to police until he arrived. So Coyne declined to talk further, refusing even to tell police her child's name.
When Janecyk pulled up, his wife already was handcuffed, sitting in a patrol car.
Crestwood Police Chief Timothy Sulikowski declined to comment about the case. But he did not dispute the contention that Coyne parked nearby or was away from her car for just a few minutes.
He did, however, suggest Coyne put her child at risk.
"A minute or two, that's when things can happen," he said.
Talk about the case has intensified, particularly online, where bloggers are weighing in on various message boards.
Many have harsh words for the police department, calling the arrest of a mother who left her child in a locked car for a few minutes an abuse of authority.
Yet statistics show thousands of children are injured and dozens die every year after being left unattended near or inside vehicles.
"I am talking tens of thousands of people who leave their kids in the car for any period of time all around America," said Janette Fennell, founder and president of Kansas-based Kids and Cars. "People don't appreciate the dangers of leaving a child alone in the car."
Coyne's attorney, Michelle Forbes, argued that Coyne did not break the law any more than a mother who parks in front of a school in a rainstorm and leaves an infant in the car as she runs a few feet to pick up another child.
"As long as the car is not out of her sight, then the child is not unattended," she said.
Coyne and her husband believe she is unfairly being lumped in with parents who put their children's lives at risk.
"If I were going on a shopping spree then, yes, I would deserve arrest," Coyne said. "I was standing right there. I never went into the store.
"I'm a great parent."
Chicago suburb + community service officer = say no more
_________________ I am defending myself... in favor of that!
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Moby Clarke
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:46 pm |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:09 pm Posts: 965 Location: North Minneapolis
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Wow. I thank God every day that I do not live in the cess pool Illinois has become. The nanny state is alive and hungry and eating its own. Those officers and in particular, the chief, should be brought up on charges, not the parents.
_________________ It is about Liberty!
Political Correctness is a doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.
Chris
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farmerj
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:21 pm |
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Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:13 am Posts: 714 Location: A County in MN
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Moby Clarke wrote: Wow. I thank God every day that I do not live in the cess pool Illinois has become. The nanny state is alive and hungry and eating its own. Those officers and in particular, the chief, should be brought up on charges, not the parents.
It happens closer to home than you think.....
Stay vigilant.
_________________ We reap what we sow. In our case, we have sown our government.
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tman065
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:19 pm |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:19 am Posts: 810 Location: Northern MN
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"Yet statistics show thousands of children are injured and dozens die every year after being left unattended near or inside vehicles. "
Are they comparing car accidents where pedestrians are hit to leaving a sleeping child in a car?
Reminds me of the firearm :"statistics" so often quoted.
_________________ Proud, Service Oriented, Rural LEO, or "BADGED COWBOY" Certified MN Carry Permit Instructor
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SethB
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:50 pm |
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Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:02 pm Posts: 818 Location: downtown Mpls
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And while they were arresting her, where did the cops leave her kids?
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ree
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:34 am |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:55 pm Posts: 742 Location: Twin Cities
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SethB wrote: And while they were arresting her, where did the cops leave her kids?
Priceless!
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Pat Cannon
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 1:45 pm |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:53 pm Posts: 1421 Location: South Minneapolis (East of Lake Nokomis)
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I'm pleased to read that the county attorney's office has dropped the charges. I just realized, reading the article, that the arrest was in December; I'd been under the impression it happened within the last week or so.
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DeanC
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:18 am |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:54 am Posts: 5270 Location: Minneapolis
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Pat Cannon wrote: I'm pleased to read that the county attorney's office has dropped the charges. I just realized, reading the article, that the arrest was in December; I'd been under the impression it happened within the last week or so.
That's great. Now what is happening to the CSO?
_________________ I am defending myself... in favor of that!
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Macx
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:39 am |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:37 pm Posts: 1757 Location: Whittier
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DCFS's policy is to keep the children in fostercare, away from parents . . . without explaination, and denying even visitation followed by months of "court dates" where they will try and bully and intimidate a mother into making "an admission" which is infact a confession of guilt so that they can forcibly induct the family into their system in an ongoing and intrusive fashion. It will be ont the mother to prove she is a fit mother and she may even be coerced into going to an unfit mother's support group lead by 20something "interns" sharing their depth of knowledge. If she gets her children back (and yes, they will take all not the one) and the mother is employed, DCFS will schedule enough non-optional events to burn up any vacation time and a few more to make sure she gets good and unemployed. The father, not mentioned in the story will have to foot he bill for the doors thwe SWAT teams kick in and he will have some of his guns confinscated because of the mother's alleged domestic violence.
Oh, did I rant? Maybe I am just assuming they'll treat her like MN DCFS treats parents who switch to a different doctor at two months.
_________________ Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a
lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become
a law unto himself; it invites anarchy .” Olmstead v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438
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Woodchuck
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:18 am |
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Senior Member |
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Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 8:24 pm Posts: 172 Location: Duluth
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Macx,
Didn't you previously post that you did some sort of child or young adult counseling for the state or something? Or am I wrong?
_________________ Stay safe! Chuck
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Macx
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:45 pm |
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Longtime Regular |
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Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:37 pm Posts: 1757 Location: Whittier
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I work with a narrow portion of the mentally ill and chemically dependant, I am a "lost cause specialist" . . . but my professional life hasn't kept the State of MN from imposing some unspeakable horrors on my family. I expect that I will be pursuing a civil suit after going after one DCFS investigator for perjury he committed. The civil suit should go a little easier after a perjury conviction and perjury should be pretty slam dunk given the situation.
_________________ Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a
lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become
a law unto himself; it invites anarchy .” Olmstead v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438
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Woodchuck
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:50 pm |
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Senior Member |
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Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 8:24 pm Posts: 172 Location: Duluth
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That's too bad. I would have thought you would get a little "professional courtesy".
Good luck!
_________________ Stay safe! Chuck
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