To think that something does not seem right with the parents' story of the boy missing in Japan

[awfullyproper]

The story as theyve told is horrendous, but they've already lied once. Did they really just go for 5 minutes? How come he didn't run after them?

I've just read the latest police comments and they don't think the boy would've walked off into the woods ( he was left on a mountain road next to the woods ) so they're looking at the possibility that someone's picked him up in their car

And yes, his parents should be prosecuted for abandoning their 7 year old on the roadside. That's not an honest mistake it's reckless and neglectful. Even if they'd gone back and he was still there, surely doing that to a child so young would be emotional/psychological abuse.

Sorry, i didnt mean to do a complete hijack

Just seemed a little hypocritcal of hq, s'all

Ah, now I understand. Up thread I thought you were suggesting MN should delete this.

Noooo! I dont think it should be deleted. I just dont think the many mm threads should be either, especially given that the reasoning given by hq applies to so many other things.
Anyway, they were in the news and it was on my mind, and i'll stop hijacking now and go to bed!

No worries
Night!!

Do we prosecute people for neglect now if they abandon their children and said children disappear?

They certainly can be charged legally with up to ten years in jail Beyond.
I am guessing not many are charged because of the death of the child being seen as punishment enough but yes if you abandon a child or neglect a child and they come to harm.

I know of two people who were arrested for child neglect. One for harm that came to a child while left alone although thankfully not death.

Realistically the amount of actual prosecutions in general for child neglect is a tiny fraction of those arrested.

First I've heard of this, someone got a link so I can take a nosy?

www.cnn.com/2016/05/31/asia/japan-boy-woods/

Google something like 'boy missing Japan woods' and you'll find it. It does sound fishy. I'm guessing there has been no forensic search of their house as the search for the boy is still on.

I don't think it adds up either. Poor, poor boy.

I think this thread will disappear soon now. Or at least half the comments so far.

As for OPs point about the little boy in the woods; over the years i've noticed that when i've had a gut reaction of '' to news stories it's nearly always come to light eventually that there was more to it and the original story was a load of bull. Gut reactions are often quite right.

In Japan, 5 year olds routinely travel alone in the tube across cities to school. So no, this would not be seen as neglect in Japan.

There was another case where a boy lost in the woods made it to a main road, and was picked up by an abuser in a car. Sadly he was murdered. So this could happen. Without more information, it is impossible to know what happened.

Sounds awful.

So they were out & about in the area & left him as a punishment-rather than they deliberately drove him there & left him iyswim?

Terrible either way, but if he was throwing stuff at people & cars it was obviously busy?

I wonder whether anyone else in the area that day has come forward to confirm seeing them and/or the 'throwing things at cars' bit of events.

Well that's also weird as it says that it's really remote but that he threw stones at people and cars. Just doesn't add up.

If that actually happened, someone will be able to confirm it. I wouldn't forget something like that, particularly not if the news was now full of said child having gone missing.

The timeline I was reading said that they made him get out of the car, drove 5 minutes away, and then walked back.

So they were gone for a lot longer than 5 minutes. And also, if they were punishing him for throwing stones, it must have been a delayed punishment, as he was in the car. Which all seems a bit harsh/odd.

I read it as he had been throwing stones at people/cars earlier in the day, and then on the way home they left him there as punishment for his earlier behaviour?

Which makes it rather calculated as opposed to a frustrated, end-of-tether kind of decision after he'd been naughty in the car?

Yes, it's not quite clear, although it doesn't detract from the leaving him & driving away.

In fairness MN don't have a lot of choice in the case of those who shall not be named as they are so bloody litigious. No mainstream forum will host discussion on that, it's too legally dangerous. Same applies to DS and I think Netmums too.

I have done the getting in the car and saying bye thing when the kids are throwing tantrums about going somewhere. However I could still see them and brown bears aren't native to the area of London I was living in.

Who would leave their child in a forest with wild animals that could eat them? Very odd.

I have been thinking that it's all a bit strange. I guess he could have been picked up by another car. I would think if he had been taken by a wild animal that they would have found evidence of that by now. It's so awful :(

"In Japan, 5 year olds routinely travel alone in the tube across cities to school. So no, this would not be seen as neglect in Japan."

No, not normal. Six is the usual age for traveling alone to school, but we are talking about really short, carefully mapped out routes in groups, with volunteer crossing guards. There are a few people who allow elementary school students to commute across time, because they are sending them to a private school, but this is not the norm.

Leaving your child alone in a wilderness with bears is not normal either.

Japan can be pretty lax about child safety but even they don't regard this as OK. Of course, you get idiots in every society.