Mother of the Year candidate

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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leaves 19 children living alone in a sweltering house... for a week

from Fark

BOWLING GREEN, KY (WSMV) -

A Bowling Green woman has been charged with child abuse after Warren County authorities removed 19 juveniles they said were left unattended for about a week in her sweltering home.

The local sheriff's office responded to a check welfare complaint at a home at 130 Kingston Way around 11:30 p.m.

When deputies arrived, they found 19 children ranging from 8 months to 14 years old with no supervision, no working air conditioning or food.

All of the children were transported and treated at the Medical Center then placed into protective custody of the state.

Jackie Farah, 32, is charged with 14 counts of first-degree child abuse and five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

Authorities said Farah is the biological mother of some of the children involved and had asked neighbors to check on the children while she left.

She was traveling from Chicago to Bowling Green when officials discovered the children and instructed her to report immediately to the sheriff's office. Farah was arrested Tuesday afternoon after speaking with authorities.

Nine dogs and one cat were also removed from the residence by the Warren County Sheriff's Office Animal Control. Authorities said living conditions were found to be unacceptable for the juveniles and animals.

When police arrived at the home, they said temperatures were in excess of 90 degrees. Social workers from the Department for Health and Family Services were contacted and responded to the scene.

The sheriff's department is still investigating.


19 children found living alone in sweltering house - WSMV Channel 4
 

TenPenny

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Jun 9, 2004
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'Temperatures were in excess of 90 degrees'...yeah, they were that way here on the weekend, too. Does that mean we endangered our children by spending the weekend at a cottage with no air conditioning?
 

Walter

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Jan 28, 2007
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A 14 year-old is fully capable of looking after kids. How many were 14 or 13 or 12? Very poor, sensationalist reporting.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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A 14 year-old is fully capable of looking after kids. How many were 14 or 13 or 12? Very poor, sensationalist reporting.

Yeah, I think the mother of 19 kids probably needs to get out of the house alone once in awhile! :smile:
 

L Gilbert

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Nov 30, 2006
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Although 14 year-olds are quite capable of tending to younger kids, the article says there was no food around. If there's no money, how were the 14 year-olds supposed to feed the young ones? Perhaps go ask a neighbor for some food?
Ya think? DUH
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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A 14 year-old is fully capable of looking after kids. How many were 14 or 13 or 12? Very poor, sensationalist reporting.


A 14 year old is perfectly capable of looking after 3-4 children, for limited amounts of time, with emergency contacts and parental oversight of the conditions they are sitting in (ie, you need to be around to know if the temp went through the roof and windows need opening, children need extra water, etc).

A week alone is not okay.
 

L Gilbert

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Nov 30, 2006
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A 14 year old is perfectly capable of looking after 3-4 children, for limited amounts of time, with emergency contacts and parental oversight of the conditions they are sitting in (ie, you need to be around to know if the temp went through the roof and windows need opening, children need extra water, etc).

A week alone is not okay.
Definitely not.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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A 14 year old is perfectly capable of looking after 3-4 children, for limited amounts of time, with emergency contacts and parental oversight of the conditions they are sitting in (ie, you need to be around to know if the temp went through the roof and windows need opening, children need extra water, etc).

A week alone is not okay.

Yep, the little buggers could get up to a little mischief! :smile:
 

Suemorgs

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May 17, 2012
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I'm not sure why you all think this funny, leaving any children alone is not acceptable. If she is the kind of person that's needs to "get away" she should have thought twice about having so many children.
 

JLM

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I'm not sure why you all think this funny, leaving any children alone is not acceptable. If she is the kind of person that's needs to "get away" she should have thought twice about having so many children.

Sheesh, it was only 100 years ago that girls got married at 14!
 

TenPenny

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I'm not sure why you all think this funny, leaving any children alone is not acceptable. If she is the kind of person that's needs to "get away" she should have thought twice about having so many children.

At 14, the girl is old enough to have kids of her own.

And 90 degrees is hardly child abuse.

What kind of sterile protective environment do you live in?
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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At 14, the girl is old enough to have kids of her own.

And 90 degrees is hardly child abuse.

What kind of sterile protective environment do you live in?


The problem is, this is the US, and presumably a city. The US has the oldest 'children' on the planet, and urban environments have the highest culture of fear in our societies. That can translate into the 14 year old having zero common sense, zero skills, and the fear of being discovered can mean that they don't have the windows open. No food, no skills, no ventilation, can be a disastrous combo. I'm assuming given what the article said, such was the case.
 

JLM

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Nov 27, 2008
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I'm not sure why you all think this funny, leaving any children alone is not acceptable. If she is the kind of person that's needs to "get away" she should have thought twice about having so many children.

Just in keeping with the levity indicated in the title of the thread, if you are gonna get through life with your sanity intact you must have a sense of humour:smile:
 

karrie

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Jan 6, 2007
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Just to get up on my parental pedestal a bit here.....

Alberta has no age guidlelines for when it is or isn't okay to leave a child home alone, to leave a child with another child, or anything pertaining the safety and responsibility of a child, precisely because some fourteen year olds would sit in a sweltering house and never crack a window or get a glass of water, while some ten year olds would have had the situation well in hand. When investigating an incident like this, the ages of the kids are not a factor.... the ability of the kids is.