Cole Co. two-year-old taken into protective custody

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A two-year-old Cole County boy was taken into protective custody early Wednesday morning after being found walking alone on a street.

According to sheriff’s department reports, the call came in around 1:34 a.m. to go to the 3900 block of Dewberry Drive where a citizen found the child and took him into their home.

Deputies checked the child over and found he had no apparent injuries or signs of abuse.

They then attempted to make contact with at least one resident in every apartment building on Dewberry to locate the parent of the child, but no one seemed to know the boy.

The state children’s division was called in and eventually the child was turned over to them.

At 3:55 a.m. a woman called the 911 center claiming to be the legal guardian of the boy and that he was missing.

Authorities went to the woman’s address, which was an apartment in the 3900 block of Dewberry, and the woman told them she had left the boy in the care of her friend’s 13-year-old son while she and that boy’s mother went shopping.

That was around 10 p.m. Tuesday and the two women didn’t get back until 3:55 a.m. Wednesday.

The boy who was watching the two-year-old said he fell asleep around 11 p.m. and did not hear the infant leave the apartment nor did hear deputies knocking on apartment doors trying to identify the child.

Deputies were told the infant could put on his jacket by himself and he had a tendency to stand on objects in order to open doors.

The child will stay in the custody of the children’s division pending the outcome of their investigation.

More like this story

JCLifer 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Jeff City's stores have lots of great bargains after midnight on Wednesday mornings. I am surprised the mother and her friend didn't stay out later to get more great deals.

connor 3 months, 4 weeks ago

I guess that would depend on what the hard working single mothers were shopping for wouldn't it?

Paroquet 3 months, 4 weeks ago

We time our visits to stores in this town while every pious congregant is in Church, or every "normal" person is asleep. It's great! No crowds, no lines, a totally fabulous experience. Even the other customers present are nice to you.

I'd say "try it sometime", but that wouldn't do--it'd screw-up mine and the Missus' shopping time together. We'd just have to start our shopping in response to when everyone else didn't. It's nice, not feeling like you're not holding-up a line.

Connor? Do you have some issue with people maintaining schedules other than your own we should know about? You got a thing for crowds and butt-brushing around wailing children and irate patrons?

Mmph. We sure don't. We shop on the off-shift. The clerks tend to be nicer after not having to had to deal with--everything we are not.

connor 3 months, 4 weeks ago

From 10 pm to 3:55 am? Ya that's some shopping trip to beat the mainline hour crowds. That is what at least 2.45 hours at each business open that time of night?

Keep trying though the Liberal made up emotional outrage tactic is amusing.

As for off hours shopping I tried that once or twice I found the few places open at those times limited their on the clock employees to the point that the wait times were usually about the same overall.

The less aisle traffic is nice though.

Paroquet 3 months, 4 weeks ago

So, you do have issue or take exception to people maintaining schedules other than yours?

You tried it maybe twice? Good! That means less traffic for me. When you're not buying age-restricted products, its a breeze. That whole electronic check-out thing is the bomb! =-)

connor 3 months, 4 weeks ago

I typically use cash myself but I guess since you say electronic is the bomb it makes EBT simpler. I can see where that would be a selling point for some but like I said since I don't use it not for me.

Glad it works for you though.

Paroquet 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Meanwhile, the non-custodial Dad was back home catching a few Zzz's before his next shift at his third job in order to stay out of prison to meet a support obligation that was beyond the means of those who stuck it to him in the first place, notwithstanding he had a nice room and bed for his child, adequate clothing, and provisions in the fridge and cupboards.

The sympathy for some single mom's has gotta go. There are a lot of could be better Dad's out there, and children wanting for them, but no--carrying a baby to term gives one pre-supplanted primacy, therefore any judgement is less than impartial.

Mom got pregnant, didn't do anything wrong. Dad helped mom get pregnant, now he's the bad guy.

Yeah. That's equal protection.

jcguy25 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Seriously? The mother didn't fail? She left a two year old with a 13 year old boy until 3:55a.m. while her and the 13 year old's mom were "shopping". I feel sorry for the kid babysitting. Both mothers failed miserably.

Paroquet 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Seriously, she didn't. The child had a guardian of legally sufficient age for the task at hand.

spelchek 3 months, 4 weeks ago

If you call a woman that has babies from multiple men, depends on government and grandma to raise said babies so that said woman can go out, party, and continue to be irresponsible a "mother", then your definition of a mother is different than mine. Don't get me wrong, some woman want their baby and do their best to nurture it by themselves (I don't recommend it) but you can't deny for one of the good mothers there are 10 worthless ones. Same goes for males going around making babies and wanting the title of "father"...no sir...you are neither a man or father if you are derelict in raising and supporting your offspring.

bluesfan13 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Where do you see babies from multiple men mentioned? Plus, IF, this child was under the gradmother's custody, as you suggest, then the mom wasn't the one going out and partying, was she?

JCLifer 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Who, in their right mind, leaves a 13-year old boy in charge of babysitting an infant at 3:30 a.m. on a school night?

The mother of the infant should face charges of child abuse and abandonment, as should the mother of the 13-year old boy. Both of them are responsible. Neither of them are fit parents and both should be steryilzed.

asb 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Sorry, I babysat when I was 13, and I might not have been as good at it as I thought I was. But I just love this sterilization and jail talk based on what's in the story. Only one in ten single mom's are fit to raise their children? Really? Hogwash, total hogwash. Is there a parenting issue here, likely so. Is this talk of criminal neglect and government forced sterilization (really cool coming from the FRight, really cool!) of moms who hire young kids to babysit? Lord have mercy you guys are such hypocrits.

spelchek 3 months, 4 weeks ago

"Only one in ten single mom's are fit to raise their children?" -- Nobody said that, you did. The overall point is you brought a child into this world and your life ended when the baby's began....don't tell that to Casey Anthony though.....

TickledPink 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Your life doesn't end just because you have a child. That attitude (among others) is why so many children grow up with such a hearty dose of self entitlement. All parents and couples need time without their children to nurture the ADULT relationship, whether it's the romantic couple or just an evening with friends. A mother/father is still a person, independent of their children. Kids who grow up watching their parent/s interact with each other as a loving couple and not just as parents have better adult relationships themselves.

postandcourier.com/article/20130104/PC1208/130109796/1014/no-kids-allowed-making-time-for-mom-and-dad

There's a great quote in this article: "a child is a welcome addition to the family, but they are not the center of it.”

A 13 year old is plenty old enough to babysit a 2 year old, especially if the hours are when the toddler should be sleeping. Most toddlers can unlock a door, even a deadbolt. They're incredible little mimics and watch everything you do. This is why we had high locks on our doors after I caught my son headed outside to play at 5:00 in the morning one summer. He was almost 3.

I don't care if the guardian was shopping, at a friend's house or at the bar having a drink. She has a life as well and none of those things are illegal.

spelchek 3 months, 3 weeks ago

You equate parental involvement and sacrifice with a child ending up with self entitlement? I know many people who's parents were very involved with their children and turned out quite the opposite...humble, giving, and loving. Adults do need to nurture their relationships, no doubt. However, the child should be the first and foremost priority in their lives. Your "great quote" is awful..."a welcome addition"...seriously? That quote suggests that the child isn't planned or wanted, but mistakenly lucky to be here. To be great it should read "a child is a planned addition to the family, ensure they feel they are part of it"......you know like taking the child "shopping" with you.

TickledPink 3 months, 3 weeks ago

No where did I say that parents shouldn't be involved with their child or sacrifice for them. You're implying that an unplanned child can't be a welcome addition. All of my children were welcome additions to my family, but I only truly planned one of them.

My kids know they're loved and respected but as a person, I have a life and needs outside of them. This teaches them far more than me devoting my life to catering to their every whim.

Paroquet 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Um, it's all nice and legal--the supervising authority, the 13yo, was of legitimate age for babysitting. The hours were such that both should've rightfully expected to have been asleep.

Consider if Mom was home and the same happened? I know we pulled some stuff as kids during the Summer when our parents were crashed. I suppose they could've shackled us to our beds to prevent such excursions into the countryside for a game of hide-n-seek with the cousins.

Who in their right mind indeed...our cousin watched over my brother and I many a time. She was way harsher than Mom, Dad, or Grandpa and Grandma.

The mother of the clearly ambulatory "infant" should face nothing. Send her some of those child-proof door knobs if it irks you so, and some outlet blockers while you're at it.

Then lobby for the legality of shackling of non-adults.

JCLifer 3 months, 4 weeks ago

13-year old boys need their own babysitters. You obviously do not know anything about them.

Paroquet 3 months, 4 weeks ago

My son is 13 this coming March. I can remember getting my first kiss at 13. Sneaking out of the house to go skinny dipping in the pond. Lighting firecrackers with filtered cigarettes because they were cheaper than punks. Running the boat on the Osage to check the trot-lines before the school bus came. Waking up at 3-ish to catch the various meteor showers. Having a LOT of crushes on girls.

What do you want to tell me again about being thirteen?

asb 3 months, 4 weeks ago

He wants to tell you exactly how to be 13, and how to be a mom, and how to be "fit" to raise children. He'd have the government right up your chute, but hates the government . . . this is delicious!

JCLifer 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Sadly, the government needs to regulate the folks who are unable to take care of themselves and young children in a proper manner. My problem with the government is that it has a strong emphasis on regulating people who do not cause problems, and the ones that do (like this story) are not regulated.

I am astonished at your defense of parents who put their own needs to go out drinking and hanging with thugs in wee hours of the morning over the needs to properly supervise and protect their own children, even in the face of an actual issue that could have easily been a travesty.

Tell me more about how a 13-year old child babysitting all night on a school night is a good thing. I want to hear all about the benefits of allowing such behavior, and how it is an example of stellar parenting.

jeffcitygirl 3 months, 4 weeks ago

I was babysitting all night at 12 for younger kids, it completely depends on the maturity level of the individual teenager. Some 13 year olds are prefectly capable of watching a child who is likely going to be asleep the whole time anyway..some are not.

connor 3 months, 4 weeks ago

I am sure the "shopping" till 4Am was a one time rare occurrence or something. Just like I am sure the 13 year old was actually asked to be the "sitter" and not just told to stay there while the mothers went out and partied.

You're all right. For all we know the mothers were on call for the CIA and an extreme emergency called them to work to avoid a terrorist satchel bomb threat and they saved the city at the cost of the child getting out unattended. We owe them our gratitude and support.

Our heroines.

I am sure nothing like this will ever happen again. Just keep paying your taxes so we can pay the welfare checks for these CIA heroines.

Frankenstein27 3 months, 4 weeks ago

A handful of points: (1) It says the child's legal guardian, not the child's mother. It does not say that woman has multiple children by multiple fathers. Commnenters who read that into the story need to practice reading. (2) Have you ever taken an ambulatory two-year-old to Walmart at 6:00 in the evening? If so, you greatly annoyed yourself and lots of other customers. (3) If you're going to leave a 2 year old with a 13 year old babysitter, after bed time is the BEST time to do so, as under most circumstances the 2 year old will never even realize that the guardian was gone. (4) While it is entirely possible that the guardian was out socializing as opposed to shopping, what does that matter? Most 13 year olds are entirely capable of babysitting a single 2 year old, especially one that is sleeping. (5) I hate Walmart, especially the one on Stadium, at any time before 10:00 pm. I have come back into Jeff from Frankenstein to do holiday shopping to avoid the horrible horrible people who wander slack jawed and gap-pantsed around that store, blocking aisles and wasting air. (6) Why is the reaction to every article on this site a liteny of what laws need to be made (they don't) or a meaningless exchange of ill-conceived bumpersticker-esque slogans and rants?

connor 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Frankenstein you are right the article says nothing about multiple children, in fact I would bet if there were other children in the apartment it would have been mentioned.

As for the shopping or parting angle it does matter some. Shopping from 10pm to almost 4am is BS in this town. Perhaps that lie means nothing and is doing nothing more than covering some innocent partying but it's a good red flag that something doesn't add up right and then brings not only the 13 yo baby sitter into question but other details as well.

There are what 2 places to shop at in this town at that time of night and it doesn't take 6 hours to do it. They are simply NOT that big.

Finally there are some other questions that come up. A two year old standing on objects to reach a door? Obviously not a locked door. The fact that doors were knocked on and still no one answered from that same street. Again if the shopping story was a lie why not the rest of it?

A good cover story is always within the realm of possibility and someone needs to sift through the story to determine the actual facts.

WTF 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Why is the reaction to every article on this site a liteny of what laws need to be made (they don't) or a meaningless exchange of ill-conceived bumpersticker-esque slogans and rants?

Because most of the posters on here are religious right wing zealots who love to tell others how to live but can't stand the government telling them what they should do.

JCsleeper 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Shopping from 10:00Pm until 3:55Am ? Guess Black Friday starts earlier every year.

down2earthdeeva 3 months, 3 weeks ago

I don't see the issue with leaving a 13 year old in charge of a 2 year old as long as the 13 year old is mature enough to handle watching the child. In this case the 2 year old very well could have been asleep when the women left and how were they to know the child would wake up after the 13 year old was asleep, put on his jacket, and go outside?

Also for those of you who seem to think that shopping from 10pm to 4am isn't likely obviously haven't been shopping with women who enjoy shopping. I have certainly spent several hours at Wal-Mart myself...especially if I'm with one of my girlfriends. They could have went shopping at both Wal-Marts if one didn't have what they wanted. Or maybe they were doing that extreme couponing...I've seen that show where it took 2 hours for someone to check out.

But even if they were out partying or having fun who cares. They didn't leave the child alone or with a 7 year old...the sitter is 13 which is definitely old enough. If they were out partying maybe they are off on Thursdays so Wednesday is their night out. No one knows what happened but its reasonable to assume that they didn't intentionally do anything to harm, abuse, or neglect this child so they shouldn't be pusished. There are people out here who are actually abusing children and they don't take those kids away but let a curious child get out at night time and oh my gosh the parent is irresponsible and they take the kid away asap.

This woman is probably highly upset and going crazy thinking she'll never get her child back. That is punishment in itself and I'm betting she'll get some extra safety locks or something for the house and will leary of leaving the child with anyone but an adult from now on.

connor 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Of course you are also assuming the 13 yo babysitter is a fact. The police sweep of the area produced no babysitter during the door knocking.

It will be interesting to see a follow up on this story after the Child services gets a look into it but we will more than likely never see the results.

down2earthdeeva 3 months, 3 weeks ago

The article states that “The boy who was watching the two-year-old said he fell asleep around 11 p.m. and did not hear the infant leave the apartment nor did hear deputies knocking on apartment doors trying to identify the child.” I believe this because my 13 year old falls asleep in his room with his tv up loud and often can't hear me when I'm yelling for him to wake up in the morning. I have to literally go into his room, turn off the tv, and shake him awake. There have also been times when he's been home sleeping during the day in the summer and his friend went over and banged on the door/rang the doorbell for like 10 minutes before he finally answered.

connor 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Yes but it still leaves it wide open. It doesn't state the boy told police or investigators.

connor 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Interesting comments and very telling opinions. I have read through these comments a few times and I cannot seem to find anywhere that someone is suggesting new laws be made.

A comment about how the mother should be charged with violation of laws already on the books is up there but nothing about new laws.

I also do not see where any Conservative poster claimed someone should live differently although ridicule over possible lifestyle choices has been made.

Typical Cleftwing deception and appeals to emotion. War on women, dirty air and water type stuff. Distort the words and create a rift. Very nice.

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