US woman arrested for keeping her children in a cave

[Little Tich]

Source: The Telegraph

Four and six year old children found barefoot, dirty and living in a wooden shipping crate in an underground cave near Kansas

A 24-year-old US mother is in custody on Saturday after her two young children were found barefoot, dirty and living in a wooden shipping crate in an underground cave on the eastern edge of Kansas City, Missouri.

Brittany Mugrauer was charged on Friday night with two counts of felony child endangerment.

Jackson County detectives discovered the four- and six-year-old children on Thursday in the 8-by-10-foot (2.4-by-3-metre) crate furnished with vehicle bench seats, two small blankets, trash and thin wires. According to the probable cause statement, the crate was missing one side and surrounded by car parts and vehicles in various states of disrepair.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11861522/US-woman-arrested-for-keeping-her-children-in-a-cave.html

[secondwind]

1. horror of horrors... unbelievable :-(

[Benna1]

2. US woman arrested for keeping her children in a cave

Safety net in US is pitiful; was she doing this because she either had no choice or wasn't aware of her choices?

[newthinking]

8. Maybe we should arrest those in power for allowing this to happen in America?

I mean, how could this even get to this point without the system turning the other way?

[salib]

10. My first thought.

[Vinca]

15. They don't count. They aren't fetuses.

[appalachiablue]

3. "Land of the free and home of the brave". ?

[warrprayer]

4. back to the 1930's

The transformation of the middle class is complete.

[840high]

6. ...+1

[newthinking]

7. Only in the 1930's they did not take the children of the poor away from them and lock them up.

We don't know all the circumstances, but still, it sure seems like we are getting closer and closer to "being poor / destitute is unlawful".

I remember seeing lots of pictures of destitute families in the depression period. Would they be locked up if the system operated as it does now?

[warrprayer]

18. sounds a lot like fascism to me

Criminalizing the weak and downtrodden

[MADem]

26. No--this is about CHILD ABUSE.

Mom lives in a hotel, and leaves her children to fend for themselves in horrific conditions.

Mom needs a new home--JAIL.

[dembotoz]

5. lived in kc for a big long ago and i sorta remember there being big undergroud storage facilities

so the concept of a cave for a room not totally as bizarre as one might think
i mean shipping crate, trash, yeah hang her high but
underground in and of itself not as crazy as it sounds

[catchnrelease]

9. That's interesting

While doing some genealogy research back around early 2000's I was made contact with a distant cousin. She said she remembered her grandfather telling stories of when he was a boy, that his family lived in some caves in Missouri for a time. This would have been in the late 1800's. I always wondered about that but the cousin passed away before we were able to exchange all of the info that she had for me. So I couldn't ask more details about that story.

I wonder if these caves have been used a refuge for desperate and homeless people all these years!

[Chemisse]

11. Sounds better than a park bench to me.

Unless she had a horde of cash and could've afforded an apartment with all the amenities for her family, I just don't see how this is a crime.

It sounds like she did her best to keep her children sheltered.

[secondwind]

12. the 6 yr old said he was supposed to be in first grade and was not in school :-(

[Chemisse]

20. That is certainly against the law.

And if she left them alone, then she is guilty of neglect.

[jwirr]

22. Many children were left alone all over the country in

the 50s so a single parent could go to work.

I have some questions:

1. Where did mom live? If she is living in this cave with them then one must look at the economic status of the family.

2. Where was mom during the day? Working?

3. Where was dad?

4. Where the children being fed well. Was some of that trash food cartons?

A lot of questions need to be answered before this woman is condemned outright for this. In the 30s there were a lot worse materials used as housing in the Hoovervilles than a good solid cave dwelling. Tarpaper, cardboard, old cars, under bridges, on sidewalks, etc.

[Chemisse]

23. My concern was that she was homeless and did the best she could for her kids,

and yet was arrested for it.

That may or may not be the case, but just the word 'cave' seems to throw people into a condemnatory mood.

[FrodosPet]

28. She needs to be arrested

This was not desperation. This was pure child abuse.

[LiberalElite]

24. The first article I read about this

said that the children only had some dry noodles to eat.

[jwirr]

25. And another said that they had no water. Also the boy

said that the parents lived in a hotel. This is beginning to look very much like the parents did need to be arrested.

[tabasco]

16. The kids were left alone in a dark cave WITHOUT WATER.

Give me a fucking break.

[Chemisse]

19. Where did you see that they were without water?

There is nothing about water in the link.

[riderinthestorm]

21. It's in the news report video.

Just awful. Those poor young kids...

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. Would have to be Kansas City.

There are a whole bunch of caves over there that businesses use. Some of them are huge.

I don'the get what's happening here. We've also had a bunch of little kids hurt or killed by gunfire. It's mostly gang related retaliations.

Believe me the mayor and police chief are on it. But it'sure such an intractable problem.

So many little kids caught in the middle of drugs and gunfire. Mostly it's parents on drugs. Awful stuff.

[secondvariety]

14. No excuse.

According to this report;

http://www.kmbc.com/news/deputies-find-2-kids-living-in-crate-in-underground-caves/35238916

the oldest child said "Mema and Papa live in a hotel". The mother admitted to leaving them alone for several days.

I don't care what her situation is-you don't leave your children alone in a filthy packing crate to fend for themselves.

[youceyec]

17. in some very very rare cases

I might support forced sterilization.

[smirkymonkey]

30. In this case, I would definitely support forced sterilization.

These people have no business reproducing. In fact I think there is a good majority of the population that has no business reproducing from all the child abuse stories I hear. It's like people who get pets just to abuse them. WFT are you doing? You obviously can't care for them, love them or give them what they need. What they hell are you doing? Stop bringing misery into the world!

[ellenrr]

27. at least she didn't put her 3-year old in the washing machine and surf the net while he died...

http://news.yahoo.com/french-parents-trial-toddlers-washing-machine-death-142246888.html

[tabasco]

29. or drown them in a bathtub.

What, exactly, is your point?