Mother made kids fake retardation to collect from Social Services

[Larry_OHF]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/27/was....ap/index.html

Basically, the mom made the kids fake retardation and coaxed them on how to do it when they were just little kids. The girl was 4 at the time and the boy was 8. Now they have caught the family in their scheme...the kids are grown up now. They discovered the truth when the grown man was in court to contest a traffic ticket. The girl has not yet been located.

Here is my problem. I think that the kids should merely be part of making restitution but only the mother should serve any jail time because the kids were so young and did what their mother told them to do...they have a mixed-up reality of how things in real life should be. By all accounts, maybe they are actually considered retarded at least socially...because they have been raised their entire lives to think that their mother was having them do something correct. A four year old, for example, would not understand law and what the difference between right and wrong are, and so would be molded into a criminal unintentionally so that when she became an adult, she would not have a grasp of reality.

I hope the defence takes care of the two children and proves my opinion...and adds their jail time to the mother's.

[Bungleau]

Mother... guilty. Restitution, prison... that's the price.

Kids... accessories. Guilty, restitution, probation.

Them's my thoughts.... worth every penny you paid for them.

As for the underlying issue... it's truly sad that a parent would do this to their children.

[Mack_Attack]

Well... I am not to sure that the kids should have to pay anything back. Did they really know at the age of 4 that they were doing anything Illegal? My thoughts are the mom is held for the whole amount and prison time.

Not to sure what the whole circumstance was why she needed the money. But sometimes one must do what one must do to keep food on the table. I am looking at it from a point that it really was neeed to support the family. I have no clue what the states has for support.

[robertthebard]

Mother guilty: restitutuion, all of it, and charges filed along the lines of endangerment on the children.

Children: Not guilty, they weren't co-conspirators, but a means to an end. Especially when it started at 4 and 8. Just how much knowledge of right and wrong does an 8 year old possess? Certainly enough to know you don't steal candy bars from the store, but does that mean the child would know about welfare fraud? I don't think so. I also believe that children will do what their parents tell them to, by and large...

[PurpleXVI]

Yeah, exactly, I'm of the opinion that the kids were brainwashed into it, or at least not fully aware of the severity. They can't be held responsible in any way, especially since it's only money, not bodily harm to anyone.

[Timber Loftis]

Regardless, it's a fine example of how much people suck.