This… just gets worse the further in you go. The funny thing (!) is the casual style it’s written in.
Kenner man admits leaving son, 9
It made me ask, “Where do I live?” Not as a slam against LA, since this feckless TWIT just seems to have been caught here. Could have happened anywhere.
Anyway. I dunno. This just derailed me today.
That is just wrong, all I can say.
How would Filch (Harry Potter character) put it…?
“Too bad they did away with the old punishments. God, I miss the screamin’.”
I think that 45 years is enough time to think about what he had done, especially if he is abandon within the system by everybody concerned.
MarkB
It’s just that something tells me he’s not the type to do anything other than grasping, and I don’t mean mentally.
‘Judge not, lest ye be judged.’
The wisdom of those words to me is that we really can’t know what another person is capable or incapable of. Obviously, a normal person woudn’t behave that way. This guy is certainly off the bell curve for normality. The article implies he’s a drug user, has wacked out interpersonal relationships, and it says he couldn’t read. Does he come from a background of abuse and neglect? If so, he never learned the skills to be a normal human. (They’re not entirely instinctive.)
It was a horrible and tragic event for the boy to be tossed out like that, but it was probably a really lucky break for him, too.
My wife works as a nurse at a private school for ‘severely emotionally disturbed’ children. Some of the kids live in group homes, others with family members. These kids simply don’t know how to get along with other people. They don’t know how to give love or to receive it. They act out their personal traumas by inflicting them on others. It’s easy to feel anger at them for their behavior. I tried working as a nurse at a facility for these kids once. I lasted a couple of months. I was an emotional wreck in short order and left.
This guy fits the profile to a ‘T.’ These things go on every day in every city and town. And it moves from generation to generation.
Tony
that’s one of the saddest news articles i’ve ever read.
The crime is henious, no question, but the allusion to reasons to suspect similar background for the “father” (you know why I’m using quotes)… abandoned and neglected kids often gro up to be abandoning and neglectful “adults” (here too).
Yes, he should pay a big price, and yes, he should get a lot of help… 45 years or so should allow some.
As for the boy, I hope he isn’t too damaged to recover… kids who are not wanted from the beginning get set up for a miserble life, and sometimes the best intentions and traditional help don’t help at all. At least there’ hope.
So very sad.
Yes, he should pay a big price, and yes, he should get a lot of help… 45 years or so should allow some.
I don’t have an answer and I’m not arguing for a different solution. Frankly, it’s my impression that people at this stage missed the boat when it was in and there’s no second chance. Prison isn’t going to change anything except keeping him off the street. He’ll meet a lot more like himself there. It’s like punishing a rabid dog for biting someone. It’s pointless, but you can’t let him run around. It’s the world we live in.
My only answer is to try to balance the equation by doing acts of kindness when you can.
Tony
I totally agree with you. I’ve experienced the ‘rabid dog’ thing, in fact, having to put down a favorite, long time family dog because he suddenly tried to take my daughter’s throat out (not something she’d brought about by any mistreatment… we were there when it happened… twice!) Did we fully understand what had happened? No. Did we know that he could not be allowed around children, or even adults again? Did we know that ‘treatment’ wasn’t going to help him?.. yes… sadly… yes.
He needs the farmers big pliers …ahem then he could not be running about jumping teenage girls.
He wll last about a month inside before he gets a taste of American justice..
Shoot him.
End of problem.
Slan,
D.
Nah, shootin’s too good fer him. Let him be bubba’s girlfriend in the big house for a few decades.
Bah! I didn’t hit submit twice, I swear!
Way too sad. I couldn’t finish the first paragraph. I don’t have kids but I cannot imagine treating your own flesh and blood that way.
The man is obviously insane. He belongs in a padded room away from sharp objects and telephones if you ask me.
Just hope someone can help that little kid some…
For an update to the story, go here: http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/10913524177770.xml?nola
Ignore the first two short paragraphs, there appears to some sort of screw-up with the xml file. The article actually begins with, “He had the birthday cake and the presents, the party favors, and the friends and family gathered in merriment.”
I can’t comment on how this guy wound up being the kind of human being he is.
My wife and I are expecting our first child in October. Something about expecting your first child causes you to really contemplate the extent to which you’ll be like your parent. My father was certainly nothing like this guy; I do not mean to imply anything like that. It’s just… as the due date gets closer & closer, as we take Lamaze & infant care & breastfeeding classes, as the whole thing just keeps getting more and more real and there’s all of this free-floating anxiety over the sort of parent you’ll be… WHAM! Here’s this life-size local horror story taking the award for most demonic father.
It’s almost a joke. You worry about how bad a parent you can be and here’s this guy setting the bar for you. It’s chilling. Thank God there’s no way I can see myself competing. Goodness knows I can be impatient & short tempered & at times a real ass at times - but nowhere near that scale of selfishness.
Anyway, I suppose having spent a lot of time thinking about being a father, and being a bit nervous about it (which is natural, I know) and then seeing this is probably why this story hit me so hard. I really didn’t mean to ruin anyone’s day and wanted to pass on the news that things appear to be ending as happily as possible.
Thanks for posting the update. So many of those stories are unending tragedies. It’s nice to hear that one is, so far, going well.
Tony
…I dunno, was it really that bad of a thing??? Kids are kind of annoying you know… 
…sorry, I couldn’t resist being a sarcastic smartass. Please forgive me![/i]
Bit of the pot calling the kettle black, there, eh, Loney-boy? 
But I am glad to hear that Stephen’s life has turned around for him. I get all torn up inside when I hear about kids getting maltreated by the ones who are supposed to love and care for them. How lonely it must be for ones so small.
Last night a woman on the bus was railing at her son, who must have been all of nine himself. She called him “stupid”, and all because his backpack straps were too tight and he hadn’t figured them out yet. So it goes.