Girl, 9, cuffed and arrested over missing bunny

[Lori Price CLG]

Girl, 9, cuffed and arrested over missing bunny

Updated: 7:45 a.m. ET April 09, 2004

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - A 9-year-old girl accused of stealing a rabbit and $10 from a neighbor’s home was arrested, handcuffed and questioned at a police station.

The girl began to cry during questioning Tuesday. She admitted taking the rabbit belonging to another child, but denied taking two $5 bills and some change, according to reports.

<snip>

[bluestateguy]

1. WE NEED TO BE TOUGH ON CRIME!!!!

I'll bet she'll remember never to steal bunny rabbits again! Next time she does something like this she just might find herself spending a few years in an adult prison!

[jobycom]

2. That, or she'll be too terrified to leave her house

And have to go through therapy until she's 60. Probably won't like cops much anymore, either.

I'm actually thrilled with this story. I was so terrified it would be Texas, but no, it was actually a civilized part of the country.

[Prodemsouth]

36. Florida civilized??? Jeeze.. they must be cavemen in Texas.

n/t

[Lori Price CLG]

5. Only in Florida... (not dissing residents, but the Gov., Jeb Bush!!)

Of course, who am I to talk? Our (Conn.) governor is Nazi Enron Republican John G. Rowland, who may be impeached for lying and stealing!!

-Lori

[psychopomp]

16. When I saw the headline

I thought, "it HAS to be Florida!" Wacky shit goes down there. Swamp gas?

[ixion]

3. I really don't believe it was necessary to involve the police in this

I think it's one of those things that could be resolved within the neighborhood, and that calling the police cost taxpayer money, and was an overly-harsh response. I'm not at all for children stealing, mind you, but I am for parents teaching their children how to live well, without involving the (police) state.

[MASSAFRA]

4. Fl must not have rules

in dealing with children. The PA State Police have rules. There is no way a nine year old would be interrogated without a parent present.

[Lori Price CLG]

8. Uh, except for where Jeb Bush is concerned!

...and (s)elections... Florida hosted the 2000 coup d'etat, rigged the 2002 gubernatorial election, and is poised for the next coup in November.
-Lori

[Qutzupalotl]

6. So she'll have a record until she's 18.

I wonder if that will affect her decision-making until then. Nothing like being branded a criminal to make you hate authority figures. Nice going.

[lectrobyte]

7. Amerika Uber Alles! We haff ways of making you not steal ze bunny rabbit!

[noonwitch]

9. This is a matter that I don't have enough facts to properly judge

Is this kid a repeat offender? Maybe the cops were trying to scare her to keep her out of future problems? Cops are not always bad, and most care about kids and their futures. It doesn't say the parents weren't involved, although if they weren't, that would be my only real problem with the police in this case.

Of course she was crying-she's a 9 year old who stole someone's pet and got caught. That's how guilty 9 year olds react to getting caught.

I worked for years as a delinquency worker. This type of behavior needs to be addressed before she gets older. Most of the kids I worked with were petty offenders, but their theivery kept escalating if they didn't get some type of consequence for their actions.

[Th1onein]

12. You understand what "labeling" is?

It's a sociological means by which someone is given their identity by forces in the outside world. And it's a part of the sociological process of MAKING a criminal. In this case, cops are treating a little nine-year-old girl, who stole a bunny at Easter, like a criminal. And, make no mistake about it: a part of that little girl is going to grow up thinking that she IS a criminal!

We've got eight and nine-year-old kids out there who are smoking and selling crack. Perhaps these are the kids who are more deserving of that label? Even though they're only nine, these are serious offenses. But stealing a bunny rabbit?

Come on! There is NO sense in this kind of behavior.

If I was that girl's mother? I wouldn't be defending my daughter--she NEEDS no defense. I would be in a court of law, like a flash, and sue the holy shit out of those cops! And I'd damn well write some letters to go in their personnel files!

[Old and In the Way]

18. If 9 year olds are smoking crack, they certainly are not criminals.

But the adults who supplied the crack to them certainly are.

[Mikimouse]

22. You read my mind ...

If I had a scaanner, I would have sent a copy of T. Scheff's 1966, 1974 labeling framework. The implications are enormous for this case.

[psychopomp]

17. "Is this kid a repeat offender?"

BWA HA HA HAA HAAAAA! Listen to what you are saying, will ya? What kids don't covet other kids' goodies?

Kids are kids and I don't think any 9 year old needs to be handcuffed to make a point! Fargin A already! Cops are not trained to be child counselors.

:think:

[noonwitch]

23. Kids need to understand that there are consequences to their actions

9 year olds are smarter and more sophisticated than you might think. They can be repeat offenders, especially when it comes to stealing because they get away with it too often. People do exactly as you are doing, saying she's just a kid, and then when she steals 10 cds from Wal Mart at 12, you ask "How did that happen". Maybe the cop's response was a little harsh, but I still think he meant to scare her for her own good, not to hurt a child. An hour tour of the youth home and a few minutes in handcuffs could save her from months in the youth home, huge fines for her family and a lot of grief in a few years.
I doubt she was even booked or admitted to the home. She was likely released with a referral to some community service agencies to help her and her family. That's how the juvie system works with kids that age.

I work with kids still, and have for 17 years, although I don't currently work in the delinquency system. If there are special circumstances involved, like the kid is slow or something, than it's different. But a normal 9 year old has to learn the difference between right and wrong before the behavior escalates.

[Th1onein]

26. Let the punishment fit the crime, though.......

An hour tour of the youth home and a few minutes in handcuffs could also scar her permanently. Get real! These are AWFUL, fascist techniques that shouldn't be used on ANY human being, much less a 9-year-old kid!

[noonwitch]

34. I highly doubt it will scar her.

But it should scare her, that's the point.

No one beat this child, no one raped her, and no one took her from her family to live somewhere else. Those are the kinds of things that emotionally scar a child. She was not subjected to violence, unless there is more to the story than is being reported. It is better for her to understand what could happen if she steals again than for her to steal again and find out the hard way, which will scar her. A night of watching tv is more likely to scar her for life.

Awful, facist techniques? Comparing this to locking someone away at Gitmo? Come on, an hour in the youth home before being released to her parents is not the same as being locked away in a foreign country, subjected to possible torture in an interrogation process and denied contact with your family or a lawyer. This kid is not a victim here, according to the facts as reported, don't make her out to be one.

[tabasco]

28. Yaaahhh hahahahahahaha!!! Off to Gitmo with the litlle turrist!!

Repeat offender - bwaaahahahaha! Maybe she's eligible for three strikes sentencing!!!

[Th1onein]

10. WHAT PIGS!

What in the world are we coming to? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!

What happened here? Were they out of donuts? Slow crime day? Did they get their rocks off arresting a little nine-year-old girl?

Is this an example of justice? Of protecting and serving? What GOOD did this do, for anyone?

I despair.

[BiggJawn]

11. Naughty Girl! Don't you know....

...you're not supposed to steal things until you grow up, like Kathy Harris and Guv'nor Jebbie? And then, only steal elections....

Somebody needs to put "McGruff, the Crime Dog" down. He's starting to maul little children....

Back in the 11th century or therebouts, didn't they used to kill children for stealing bread?

[MisterP]

35. 19th

[Cocoa]

13. photo

[JohnyCanuck]

14. Steal two more bunnies

and she could get life.

[Blasphemer]

15. Absurd....

I went through a stealing period when I was 8 or 9. I darn well knew it was wrong but I guess I was testing boundaries. At any rate, I survived without becoming some evil criminal mind. I wasn't "troubled", I did well in school, etc. It was just one of those things that I grew out of. I used to have vicious fights with my brothers. We grew out of that too. Kids do dumb things and not every infraction requires being "scared straight".

[carols]

19. Bet the bunny-owners were neo-cons

Only a neo-con would call the police over something that should be resolve between neighbors. And as a resident of the fascist state of Florida, I have to say the "only in Florida" part is right as rain!
Carol

[SemperEadem]

20. a slow starter, then?

9 year olds have a clear understanding of right and wrong--my 7 yr old niece knows that taking what is not yours or what's not given to you is stealing, and that is wrong.

I guess her explaination is the rabbit's plan was to pick the lock of its cage, meet her at the sidewalk and hop behind her all the way to her house, hmmm?

[drfemoe]

25. no

the bunny was the real trauma victim. Bunny-napping is not a trivial matter.

[Mountainman]

21. I had an eight year old foster child that was arrested.

He pushed a girl off of one of those large inflatable balls that kids can sit on, in the school playground. The girl was taken away in an ambulance with a neck brace and the mother pressed charges.

I had to take Tommy, (8 yrs old) to the sheriff's office were they finger printed him and took his picture like they do any other arrest.

Nothing came of it but this 8 yr old has an arrest record. I think they wipe it out when he reaches a certain age.

Edit, I am in California.

[noonwitch]

24. It'll be cleared when he turns 18 at the latest, unless it was a felony.

And you are a wonderful person to be a foster parent and not give up on Tommy. Do you still have him with you?

[Mountainman]

32. We do not have him with us now.

We wanted to adopt him but he needed one of us to stay at home since he had so many problems. It did not work out for us.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. When I was 7 years old,

I found a few young kittens wandering around in the street on the way home from school. My friend and I felt it was our duty to take the animals home with us to prevent them from being hit by cars.

When we got home, we both caught hell from our parents, and took the kittens back to the place where we found them. The owner, at that point, was outside her house actually looking for them.

It's possible that this little girl was thinking of the rabbit's well-being...in a 9-year-old fashion...and taking responsibility to see that the rabbit was no longer neglected or abused.

Even if this isn't the case, standard adult arrest procedure was way out of line.

[qb]

29. At least they didn't send her to "Child Protection"

She'd still be missing.

[BiggJawn]

31. Send her to CPS and burn her parents at the stake...

That's how they do it up here in Indiana...

[tom_paine]

30. Bushevik Amerika is a very ugly place...and getting uglier

[WillyT]

33. Happy Easter.... I Guess....

:wtf:

[carols]

37. I love this quote...

"Lori Ventura, the mother of the child who owns the rabbit, said the girl has been involved in other incidents and needs help."

Like I said earlier, it sounds a lot like some of that good ole compassionate conservatism...hand cuffs and an arrest record at 9 years of age is not "help."
Carol