2-Year-Old Left at McDonald’s Overnight: Should parents be charged with neglect?

For the past day, amidst news reports and blogs covering Governor Walker’s Budget Bill and the Madison protests, one particular story seems to have captivated its audiences and caused a number of heated debates. The story: A 2-year-old forgotten overnight at Milwaukee area McDonald’s. According to Jennifer Tomazic of CBS58 News:

"Milwaukee Police say at least 10 kids and adults were dining at the McDonald's at Potter and Kinnikinnick Sunday afternoon and the toddler was apparently left there.
When the family got home, police say all the kids scattered and went to bed an no one noticed the little girl wasn't there.
It wasn't until Monday morning when the 2-year-old's aunt saw her picture on television that she alerted the girl's mother that she was missing."

As of this morning, the child remains in custody of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare as workers investigate her parents and the circumstances surrounding this incident.

The Debate: Are the parents guilty of neglect? With strong opinions on both sides, respondents have expressed their recommendations for the future of the 2-year-old girl. Ranging from an immediate termination of parental rights to more empathetic responses excusing the parent’s oversight.

A quick Internet search will surely uncover a plethora of cases in which parents were charged with neglect after leaving their toddlers unattended or alone for a period of time. However, a notable difference is, that the majority of those toddlers were either left intentionally or those incidents tragically ended in the child’s death. Clearly those factors differ greatly from this particular case, as it would appear that the child was allegedly left by mistake, there are no prior indications of abuse, and the child was not harmed as result of her parent’s carelessness.

A Review of Negligence Law. According to Federal law, negligence of a child is defined as a failure to use ordinary care either by act or omission, or failing to exercise the amount of care that a reasonably

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