And the nominees for "Parent of the Year" are.....

[ChoralScholar]

Florida Man Arrested For Confining Child In Freezer

http://www.wftv.com/news/5303999/detail.html

LARGO, Fla. -- A 23-year-old man was charged with aggravated child abuse after police said he disciplined his girlfriend's 5-year-old son by stuffing him into a chest freezer.

Nicholas Jermaine Black was arrested Thursday after officers investigated an anonymous tip to the state's child abuse hot line, Largo police said. The boy's mother, Melissa Bentley Hansen, 32, was charged with child neglect because she was present during some of the incidents.

Police said Black put the boy inside the running freezer and sat on top to keep him inside at least five times since mid-October. Caging a child is illegal in Florida.

"The kid could be heard inside the freezer, obviously kicking and pushing to get out," said Largo police Sgt. Stephen Slaughter. "That child must have been scared to death."

[gardenista]

1. This makes my heart ache.

The world seems so horrible sometimes.

Why are people like this blessed with children, only to abuse them?

:cry:

[darkism]

2. "Caging a child is illegal in Florida."

Do they really have to explicitly WRITE this in the article? Does that mean it's legal somewhere else? Texas, I'm looking in your direction...

[philosophie_en_rose]

3. Not condoned, just not explicitly illegal.

If the child doesn't suffocate or have observable harm, then a defense lawyer can twist the situation to be a "time out" or point out that the law doesn't explicitly state that parents can't put their kids in freezers.

A stupid argument, when the kid's mental health is so harmed by his father. However, I can imagine some Johnny Cochrane want to be claiming that a chewbacca defense like that.