St. Paul couple kept girl in a kennel, police say

[don954]

Please tell me this is April 1st:

A St. Paul mother and her live-in boyfriend are accused of locking the woman's 11-year-old daughter in a chain-link dog kennel in a warehouse basement, leaving her cold and, one night, naked.

Deborah L. Cameron and Eric Bare appeared in Ramsey County District Court on Wednesday, each charged with two counts of unreasonable restraint of a child, a gross misdemeanor.

Cameron called St. Paul police Jan. 1 to say she was having problems with her daughter and asked them to remove the girl from their home.

When police arrived they heard the girl screaming.

She told them that Bare locked her in a dog cage, hit her and read her diary.

Child protection officials removed the girl, then talked with the couple about the girl's allegations, the complaint states.
-snip-
Bare told police that he believed the kennel was a suitable temporary living arrangement for the girl.

He said he put two car seats, a throw rug and a blanket in the kennel and placed it over a floor drain so the girl could urinate while locked up overnight. The girl told authorities that the kennel was cold but not freezing because she had a blanket.

Bare said he strip-searched the girl twice because he worried that she was concealing a stolen key to unlock the kennel. He said he forced the girl to spend one night naked in the kennel.

Cameron said that the confinement was Bare's idea but that she agreed to it.

She said she observed one strip search of the girl and approved of it. She also said she sat outside the kennel and talked to her daughter in hopes of altering her behavior problems.

http://startribune.com/stories/462/5231694.html

This nation needs some serous therapy, things like this seem to be happing more and more..

[ikojo]

1. I wonder if there is any connection between how poorly

the economy is for most people and the increase in child and spousal abuse,.

[don954]

3. well, we already know that their is a link between the economy

& social climate for abortion, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see the same about abuse too.

[makhno]

6. The economy, the poor state of education

You can't expect a country not to regress socially and morally when the foundations for human dignity - a sound education and honest work - are being eroded. I don't think many conservatives understand this, for all of their shallow talk of improving morality through religion.

[fishwax]

11. they talk about "culture of life" but don't value the living

I think you're exactly right, but religious conservatives are completely blind to that. When you leave people to compete or die, when you strip away social safety nets and pull back on education and ignore human issues and instead favor sacrificing humanity and compassion in favor of turning people's suffering into moral examples about "personal responsibility," this is the kind of thing that happens. It's sickening.

[smurfygirl]

2. The reason her daughter has behavior problems is

because of the way they treat her. This story is fucked up.

[don954]

4. i agree

[bluestateguy]

5. They should both be "fixed"

Because people like that just should not be allowed to reproduce.

[yinkaafrica]

7. They should be fixed and caged for life

These people should not be dwelling among us.
I would bet money they voted bush.

[Auntie Bush]

9. I was thinking the same thing. I wish someone would do a study/research

to see if most of these horrible crimes upon children are Republican or Christian Fundamentalist.

[gardenista]

8. I'm just waiting for whatever freeper's turn it is to tell us

that this is simply a creative form of discipline, and that if the child isn't "taught right from wrong", she will turn out to be a troubled teen.

[fishwax]

10. omg that's horrible

that kind of thing is just inexplicable. indefensible. I guess since they are only charged with Gross Misdemeanors they probably can't spend more than two years in jail if convicted on both counts. I think their behavior warrants more time than that. And the boyfriend strip searching an 11-yr-old girl should be charged with a sex crime as well.

Ugh.

[GetTheRightVote]

12. The sickness of these people is beyond belief, they have to know better

I am so sorry for the child, how it must have effected her and her growth.

:kick: