victim of poverty that needs assistance or a criminal that needs the book thrown at her?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Oakland police arrest 25-year-old woman for prostitution, find 1-month-old twins in her car

OAKLAND -- The 1-month-old twins of a suspected prostitute were taken into protective custody Wednesday afternoon after their mother was arrested for soliciting an undercover police officer, police said.

Oakland Police Sgt. Roland Holmgren, who was in charge of the police operation, said "I've never seen anything like this before. Even for the toughest cop, this would touch a place in (their) heart."

The name of the 25-year-old Stockton woman was not immediately released.

She was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and suspicion of soliciting an act of prostitution.

-------------------------------

Police fed the babies and then planned to take them to Children's Hospital for a checkup before turning them over to Alameda County Child Protective Services.

Holmgren said the woman "showed no remorse at all." She told police she needed money to get back home to Stockton and asked "What else am I supposed to do?'" Holmgren said. The woman also has three other children, ages 3, 4 and 5, police said.


http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17894575?nclick_check=1

[SoCalDem]

1. 25 with 5 under 6 yrs old?

That woman needs mental health care, an IUD and foster homes for those kids.. to start with

[emilyg]

2. .....

[TheMadMonk]

3. No she NEEDED a system which gave her free access to birth control...

...WHEN she needed it. AND a support system more sophisticated than a succession of lowlife boyfriends, several of which probably forced her into prostitution in the past for their own profit.

She is the product not the cause, and until America can get its collective heads around that idea, her children will (in all likelihood) be condemned to becoming serial abusers as boys, and serial victims like herself as girls.

[cali]

5. do you know that she didn't have access to b/c?

[TheMadMonk]

7. Simply from all the arguments on the subject here, I take it as a given...

...that active barriers will very likely have been erected against her accessing it in the US. Even access to organisations like Planned Parenthood is as likely to be theoretical as actual.


Or given the situation in the US today I could be totally off base, she might have started adulthood married to her highschool sweetheart and had her life destroyed by a medical emergency, the financial downturn or a morgtage turned sour.

Five kids (4 births) in five years is a little over the odds, but by no means particularly unusual.

[cali]

9. there are two Planned Parenthood Clinics in Stockton

so access to PP for this woman was real.

[Gormy Cuss]

14. Really? How can you be sure of that? Do you know that she is aware of the clinics?

Do you know that she could afford the fee schedule or that they would have provided services for free?
There's a lot of dysfunction in her life at the moment as evidenced by her actions in Oakland. Who knows how long she's been living like that, or what circumstances brought her to this point? Suggesting that the presence of two PP clinics in her hometown meant that she had real access is making a giant leap. Stockton is large enough that she may live nowhere near either PP nor know anyone who uses their services.

[Lance_Boyle]

11. Or that 'several of' her past boyfriends 'forced her into prostitution?'

The Monk is talking out his or her mad ass. Not unusual for monks.

[TheMadMonk]

13. Oh of course. Forced prostitution doesn't exist in the US of A.

However, given that drugs are the usual compliance tool (accompanied by beatings) and that there is no mention of drugs in the original article, I'w willing to accept that forced prostitution is unlikely to be the case here.

Which just leaves nine other kinds of desperation to put this woman in this situation.

[JVS]

4. I wouldn't arrest her, but I can't blame CPS for taking the kids.

[JVS]

6. I change my mind. Leaving two 1-month old infants unattended in the back of a car is worthy of...

some prosecution. Throw the book at her.

[wickerwoman]

10. For me, I guess it depends on what her alternatives were.

At least she kept the kids near her (I guess showing an intention to feed them at some point) instead of leaving them at home alone or in a hotel room. Did the other kids have a babysitter? How far away was she? How cold was it? Were they in car seats? There's a lot of variables that would mitigate it for me. She's got five kids, no job, no prospects, seems like she wants to feed her kids. What *is* she supposed to do with one month old twins if she's got no support system and needs to earn money?

Anyway, yeah. I don't think she should do jail time, but she clearly needs a lot of help starting with birth control.

[LisaL]

12. The article says that twins were left in the car while she and

the undercover policeman drove away in his car.

[TheMadMonk]

8. Both. And fault for both lies at our collective more privileged feet.

Prostitution should be a profitable and properly protected and regulated career choice. NOT the final refuge of desperation which makes its exploitation a very profitable career choice.