Brittany Patterson, 41, said she was shocked that her son's stroll could lead to a criminal charge.

Summary

Brittany Patterson, 41, was shocked to face a criminal charge for alleged reckless conduct when her unsupervised 10-year-old son walked less than a mile from their home.

Although authorities offered to drop the charge if she agreed to always supervise her children, Patterson refuses to sign, insisting she did nothing wrong and will fight the charge, which could lead to up to a year in jail.

Her lawyer argues that parents should have discretion over their children’s whereabouts, questioning if constant GPS tracking is now expected. Patterson was released on $500 bail.

  • Lojcs@lemm.ee
    73·
    16 hours ago

    They asked me to put my hands behind my back and all that stuff, and I realized what was going on.

    Because she was too dangerous to be cuffed normally, or not cuffed at all?

    Als I hate this doubly for the kid. Your mom getting arrested for your slightest sign of independence will fuck you up.

    • papalonian@lemmy.world
      38·
      16 hours ago

      That poor kid. I already was upset thinking about them having to see Mom get arrested. I didn’t even consider the fact that the youngest is probably blaming himself.

    • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
      108·
      15 hours ago

      Cuffed normally is behind your back. You only get cuffs in front with some prisoner transfers where you also have leg shackles and a belt. Cops routinely have a pleasant and peaceful interaction turn violent and it isn’t worth risking harm to anybody by not equally applying a handcuff and search policy.

      Often it is department policy that anyone arrested is handcuffed. Some stipulate that anyone who goes in the back of a squad car gets handcuffed as part of detaining someone.

      • rumbaEnglish
        7·
        7 hours ago

        Town of 400? Was she a flight risk. Could they not have asked her to come by and remand herself? Do keep in mind this is a non-violent crime. This was for show, to make a point or simply to be cruel.

        The police here are probably just two of the 400 people with no oversight.

        When the deputy was complaining about her child wandering downtown, It paints a very different picture if there’s only a general store a Dollar general and a gas station.

        The only thing I can imagine if the police aren’t being dick heads, is that the kid was getting into trouble. Maybe he was stealing or being perceived as stealing. Because he was being homeschooled maybe he was down there and they were pissed off because he was truant but can’t really be truant.

        • SeaJ@lemm.ee
          2·
          4 hours ago

          Wikipedia says the village is not even that big and only had a population of 223 in 2020. It is basically two highways coming together with a couple other streets.

          The officers likely were not one of the people in town. A town like that is too small to have dedicated police. The country sheriff’s department has people patrol and respond to specific areas of the county.

          I doubt the kid was stealing. They picked him up by the cemetery. Not much to steal there. He was probably just dicking around like pretty much every 11 year old in a small town does because there is not shit to do.