Mercy
06-17-2010, 04:19 AM
The initial story (http://www.wftv.com/news/23867458/detail.html) was breaking news around here last Thursday. A 14-year old boy was perp' walked by police in front of gaggle of news cameras, being described as a foiled kidnapper. The story caught my attention because I thought I misheard it was a fourteen-year old in the footage the first time it came up...he's a big boy. So I kept up with the story. Immediate follow-up reports included the boy's name but little has been reported since with a few notable exceptions (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-mike-thomas-arrest-follow-061710-20100616,0,3585848.column).
This does not sit right with me starting with parading a minor before news cameras based on an uncertain crime. Normally I am against coddling the kiddies but usually they keep the minors' identities, names and faces, hidden until after there is mugshot goodness. One might also question how all the reporters got there so soon after it all went down but I am willing to let that one slide. Charging him as an adult? A sixteen-year old gets charged as a minor after killing his fifteen-year old girlfriend when she refused to get an abortion but this kid gets charged as an adult for holding a little girl's hand? Mummy is not pressing charges and has since admitted it was all a misunderstanding so why charge him with anything? Or maybe I am just losing my edge and someone else has a good reason why this is not a miscarriage of justice.
-m.
This does not sit right with me starting with parading a minor before news cameras based on an uncertain crime. Normally I am against coddling the kiddies but usually they keep the minors' identities, names and faces, hidden until after there is mugshot goodness. One might also question how all the reporters got there so soon after it all went down but I am willing to let that one slide. Charging him as an adult? A sixteen-year old gets charged as a minor after killing his fifteen-year old girlfriend when she refused to get an abortion but this kid gets charged as an adult for holding a little girl's hand? Mummy is not pressing charges and has since admitted it was all a misunderstanding so why charge him with anything? Or maybe I am just losing my edge and someone else has a good reason why this is not a miscarriage of justice.
-m.