Oh, I needed some good news today!
Here's an in-depth article that explores just WHY mothers would take up with sex offenders when they have children. It also has details of the find.
Haylee's mother and her pet sex offender were hiding under false names on a Christian agricultural commune. Is that not ironic?
Little Haylee is going to be returned to the custody of her grandmother.
Candace Watson is going to be charged with aiding a fugitive felon. I don't hear anything about child endangerment, but I should think she could be charged with something like that. It would have to be proven that she knew Potter was a sex offender...but, guess what? Her brother, who supposedly introduced Dumb to Criminal, is also a sex offender!
Haylee's mother, Candace Watson, was so emotionally needy that she packed up her child and took off with this scumbag on a very short acquaintance. Two things are obvious, here. First, Ms Watson is dumb as a box of rocks, and second, her child is not her numero uno priority.
What is wrong with these people?
I think there are many women (well off, well educated and well-intended as well as ignorant and poor) who reproduce without giving a thought to the person created--who that person is and what their individual needs might be. It's not about education or common sense. They just never seem to give a thought to the idea that the person they give birth to is not an extension of themselves and can't be expected to want the same things Mommy wants, like the same things Mommy likes, and be the kind of child Mommy wanted to have and raise.
ReplyDeleteAnd there are also women who have children because children generate income. In the age of DNA testing and court-ordered paycheck withdrawals, not to mention food stamps, housing allowances, medical care, education, and SSI if you can prove your child is "disabled" in some way, there is a strong economic reason to reproduce.
If you have no other salable skills, having one or two children can provide a steady cash flow, allowing, say, a 19-year-old to live on her own and think about going to school, maybe even to college--without having to work a dead-end job in the meantime.
Plus, society always affords grudging respect to mommies, and that has to count for something. You don't need a license, education, certification, or money to reproduce. You don't have to apply or be interviewed for the job of parent (and no drug tests either!). The nurses and social workers will always speak to you in tones of respect and reassurance and treat you like a responsible adult--because you're a parent. But their legal standards are so low you can get by with just about anything before your income is at risk from CPS.
I am childless by choice, not because I dislike children (because I like them lots better than most adults), but because I knew I couldn't be the mother that any child deserves. But all you need to get that check is to "love children" and fail to prevent conception.
I honestly have no idea why a mother would endanger her child like that. It's ludicrous. Still, the generic term 'sex offender' saddens me. Oh, not for this guy. He's a tier III, the top level of creep.
ReplyDeleteStill, 'sex offender' can mean the tier I's also, guys who are considered low or no-risk. These are the 19 year old guys who slept with their high-school girlfriend and got convicted for it when Daddy found out. Or the guys who took a leak on a tree and got caught. These guys now have their lives a constant miasma of suspicion and fear because of a stupid moment. I could list several cases where the high school lovers went on to marry and have children, and years later Grandpa regrets having his daughter's husband convicted...but it's too late.
Sorry, this is a soapbox for me, because it hits close to home. But the Mom in this case? She needs a head checkup, big time. A tier III is a felon, and dangerous. Scary stuff.
Driver, I have seen a lot of the "child as the latest accessory" phenomenon. You know the drill; "here I am, 35 or so, with a career. I guess it's well-enough established for me to take a few months off to have a baby." I hate that. But I agree, this case is different. This mother has no idea what love is, and the guy saw a patsy.
ReplyDeleteLisa F; point very well taken. I've been saying the same thing for years. That is why they established the "tier" system of identification. I still think there should be some other designation for those you have described, who are really the victims of an irate father, or who just got caught taking a whizz in the wrong place. I know of very few men who have never peed outdoors. It certainly doesn't mean they belong on an SO list!
When I was in high school, a lot of marriages started with a bit of fog in the windows of a car parked out on Bear Point! Some of them are still going. Not saying it's a good thing, but when the couple has been intimate, it's difficult to have to stop when half of it turns 18.