To be shocked at this woman's lack of parenting concern?

[jojane]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346481/Tragedy-girl-murdered-Florida-church-just-hour-mother-let-recently-released-sex-offender-McDonalds-befriended-family-Walmart.html

I can't believe that a mother would let her child go off with a man she has JUST met in the supermarket!! I am all for not thinking every person is a peado and will happily let my children talk to people if I am there but no way would I let a complete stranger take one of my children forma burger!?,

[QueenofallIsee]

Only the perpetrator of a crime is to blame, children should be safe under any circumstances. However like the OP, I did see the news story and ponder if I would be comfortable enough with a stranger within the reported time period to accept material goods/food etc- I suspect that I would not. This woman is paying for her naiveté in the worst way anyone ever could.

[DowntonTrout]

Usual MN judginess out in force on this thread by some posters I see.

Yes the mother made an error of judgement but I can't bear the "that would never happen to my child because I don't let them out of my sight" brigade.

You realise, if that is your way of thinking, that you should not leave your child in the company of any male over the age of about 10, especially family members/close friends, don't you? Because that would be a much more likely scenario for something like this to happen.

[5madthings]

Ha ha lol was posting on several
L threads at once and got confused over names...maybe I should get mnhq to edit for me don't want JH suing for libel!

[Kiriwawa]

5madthings - Jeremy Hunt is the Health Secretary- he's the one cutting the NHS, not abducting schoolgirls ;)

[OliviaYouCannotBSeriousMumsnet]

Sorry I am a bit late to this but peace and love MNers
There is a grieving family out there eh?

[MarthasHarbour]

Nasty nasty thread

For the record if you read sparklys Huffington Post link above you will see that the mother has said that she didnt let her daughter wander off with him, she hadnt realised that her daughter had gone.

I do have a PFB, and whilst i watch him like a hawk i dont have eyes in the back of my head, many a time have i been chatting to friends in the park and he has dashed off behind a tree or a mound (we have teletubbies mounds in our local park but i digress) - i get the sick feeling in my stomach and run round like batshit trying to find him. Usually succeeded within 5 seconds.

I cannot imagine being in her situation. As has been said before she is clearly vulnerable if she has her DCs out that time of night, was clearly down on her luck, and taken in by this sick fuck. I havent been in her situation so could easily say 'ah well it would never happen to me'. That attitude which-usually comes from my parents really sickens me.

I feel so desperately sad for her mother, the middle class parents/holiday restaurant couple and the beautiful little welsh girls parents.

RIP x

[YonicTheHedgehog]

I feel for the mother. She made a split second judgement call that she has to live with. Poor family.

[IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou]

I've lost sight of my 8 yo hundreds of times. I don't drag them all into petrol stations and I let them go on playdates with people whose parents I only know from chatting at the school gate and if I take the little one to the toilet in soft play I don't expect the other 3 to come along too. I don't think that I would go to wallmart with a stranger but I'm not poor and hungry in a country with holes in it's safety net. I can imagine it happening, the McDonalds is in the store, you can see it, the eldest child goes to help carry the trays with five peoples food on and the mother loses sight of her. At 8 she was probably playing out and maybe going to the local shop on her own. Her mother thinks she won't go off with a stranger but to an 8yo he isn't a stranger anymore, he's a friend you've just met and you can bet your boots he had a perfectly plausible excuse for going to the van instead of into McDonalds.

[5madthings]

I agree with expat etc. The mother was obviously vulnerable hence why the vile man targetted het. Just like jeremy hunt targetted a vulnerable school girl. These people are manipulators and opportunists. They are at fault, not the mother.

Why are we so keen to victim.blame in this country, especially when its blaming women.

Its disgusting, have a bit of empathy and respect.

[Nerfmother]

Yes, I have discussed horrors - how awful for x, what a terrible thing etc. I would not try to work out what proportion of blame you can land on the bereaved parents to make myself feel better. And definitely not public ally.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

It is nasty judginess more than anything.

[Boomba]

i dont read it as 'a little chat'...i dont think that is what is behind it at all.

I think people are a bit scared that this happens. And are reassuring themselves, that it cant happen to them, because they would never make those decisions....

coming together to discuss horrors is also normal/usual

[Nerfmother]

Really? I have no desire to have a little chat about whether parent a is to blame for the death of her child, and I think people should think before posting.

[Boomba]

its not appalling at all. Its a completely natural response

[Nerfmother]

This thread is appalling.
The moment you give responsibility to a parent for the unexpected murder of its child by someone else, you take a bit of blame away from the murderer.
Just because it makes you feel safe by blaming the parents, doesn't mean you should say it out loud. Especially when you are just adding another bit of pain to anyone involved who comes across this thread.

[Boomba]

oblomov its not my impression at all, that people are more diligent since madeleine maccan. I dont think there ever were many people who would leave there kids in an apartment whilst they go out for dinner, even before she was taken

[Boomba]

but the point is, yes the woman is likely to be in a situation where she would accept help from this man. Whilst 99.5% of us wouldnt in a million years of gone with him.

There are people who don't make good decisions and arent good at safe guarding themselves.

Paeophiles are good at recognising these people/the vulnerable children and targeting them

its not their fault they are vulnerable

[xuntitledx]

For those comparing this to thr April Jones tragedy and asking if we would blame the parents then I'm going to go against the grain here and say YES!

April was a 5 year old girl, at that age I don't think it's appropriate to be playing outside with zero supervision. Completely understand that ultimately blame lies with the disgusting creatures that commit the crime but the parents cannot negate all responsibility and for a 5 year old, my concern wouldn't just be with stranger danger but also cars and water and anything else dangerous that a 5 year old wouldn't be able to understand.

The mother in question in this story was completely naive to expect that a strange man just wanted to 'help the family out' without that raising any eyebrows or concern.

Unfortunately the world is a scary place but it's our job as parents and respectable human beings to be vigilant and protect the vulnerable.

[Oblomov]

I'm with savoy. I have done lots of things, that maybe in hindsight, we're just too lax.
And pre Madeleine McCann lots of people left children or were much more lapsi-daisy-call then they are today.

[ParadiseChick]

Awful story.

It's there something about laying the blame on someone who you think you would act differently to that makes these stories easier to handle for some people?

Like you know you're not a murderer. But you are a mother. But you wouldn't make the mistakes she did would you?

[LittleNoona]

Seriously, how many of you would do the same as this mother did?
Honestly?

[NandH]

eyesunderarock ...bit pathetic to state that 'no, I will not make the artical clickable'! 1. I didn't specifically ask you to do it and 2. Just pathetic!

Thanks bluebell for clickable link :)

I don't understand why people are blaming the mother, he obviously came across as a decent man and unless sex offenders had a sign across their heads saying 'I'm a sex offender' how is anyone to know! I hope he rots in hell, personally!!!

[ThisReallyIsNotSPNopeNotAtAll]

A young child was murdered by a horrid creature. Someone not fit enough to even be called human and there are people actually trying to blame the mother?!

That mother has just lost her child in one of the worse possible ways and yet people are wanting to blame her for it?

Dont you think she will be sat blaming herself as it is? She doesn't need people blaming her as well

I have nothing but sympathy for the mother and the family.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Hear hear

[JenaiMorris]

Some posters ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Nobody here knows the half of what happened, yet feel in a position to point the finger at the mother of a murdered child.

Grow up and learn some humanity.