Lakeville mom apologizes in baby's bathtub drowning

She avoids prison time for leaving child in tub as she shopped online By Frederick Melo [e-mail] Article Last Updated: 05/19/2008 11:43:55 PM CDT A Lakeville woman whose baby drowned in a bathtub ...

[GLOCK]

Only in MN. would the courts be so "Harsh" on the poor mommy!!!!!!!!!!
A typical cae of bleeding heart liberalism and "MN." Nice! I wonder whay would of happened if it had been the father?????????

[Outraged]

So, she unintentionally killes her daughter (while shopping of course) and gets a slap on the wrist and to top it off gets to "work" by watching her children UNSUPERVISED??? What is wrong with the system? Like she couldn't do the same thing again? Fathers who are indebt from paying child support get less parental time with their kids than she does and half the time the state wants it supervised. What a joke.

[Bob]

Government at every level is clearly BROKEN!

[Consistent]

Why is this a story?

I have no statistics, but I am willing to bet that about 99.9999999999% of humans convicted of a crime are "sorry"!

Mothers who "Kill their children", get less jail time from a "FEMALE JUDGE" than a man who kills a "Kitty". And while being punished for "Killing her Baby", gets to go home 3 days a week to "Mother" the "Children", she victimized by "Killing their Baby Sister".

I havent read any story "EVER", about a "Dad", that had "Mental Health Issues", when he shook his baby to death, getting 6 months in jail, released to go be "Dad" to the other children he victimized by killing their "Baby Sister".

Inequal application of justice is "By Definition", No justice at All!!!"

[Jan]

I have sympathy for people with mental illness but this is outrageous! I don't know where to even start this is so bad. I have a friend who lost her baby due to a birth defect and she is traumatized. This lady leaves her 2 small children in a bathtub while she shops for shoes. And now she gets to practice being a mom again. Arghhhhhhhhh!

[Own Up]

This is a disgrace and should point out the gender inequalities in our justice system. 6 months is a joke, bipolar or not...

[Consistent]

Prisons are filled with humans that have "Mental Health Issues". That is why they are there!Healthy humans do not rape, kill, maim, slaughter, or otherwise destroy the lives of other Human Beings!

"Mental Illness" is defined as the absense of "Mental Health". If a hunam lives to be 80 years old, there will be a time when the absense of Mental Health will occur!

Sentencing needs to be taken from the "Hands of Judges", and determined by "We the People".

Judges, Persecutors, Defense Attorneys, and Politicians are All Lawyers!
All slide from one role in the Law Enforcement Industry to another role evry day!
It isnt about Justice!, it is about a Business. The "Product" they all " make a living from, is the lives of Human Beings!

Any of you that think people in prison, or part of the "system", as a consequence of their "Crime", and not because of a lack of wealth, or Victim Class status, need to wake up and demand change!

[dassad]

What is this bi-polar crap? Is it like schizophrenia? It seems like it's gotten to be almost an excuse for bad behavior. And it seems like an epidemic. Or is it just that people need a new snap diagnoses.
Just a few years ago nobody ever had this bi-polar. Did it not exist or is it something in the environment that is causing it or is it just a convenient excuse?

[Times Today]

This story is crazy. she lets her daughter drown while she's online shopping. Then not only does she get a laughable jail sentence, but then she gets to stay out of jail so she can spend time with her other kids? What a bunch of BS. Hopefully there's not another great sale this summer that causes her to push the kids to the side agian, Sorry my ass, not even sure how here kids father can live with the fact that not only did she kill one kid, but still gets to supervise the rest before she goes to jail for the crime she commited,MN loves the Mental Health laws.

[Big Laker]

When this story 1st came out, and then the hunter who killed his son happened I argued that the hunter would get many times the sentence that the bathtub lady got. Why does this not surprise me?

[Big Laker]

The hunter who killed his son has got to be thinking that he needs a different lawyer. And boobs.

[Hmmmm]

It appears another case of classism exists. Let's take a look at where this woman hails from - Lakeville. Rich-ville. I don't think this is a case of her getting a slap on the wrist because she is a mentally ill woman more than it is because of where they live. Now she can go back to her shopping online, kids, and perfectly manicured lawn. If this would have been a poor parent in Minneapolis, they would have had the book thrown at them, undoubtedly.

[seekthetruth]

White suburban female the trifecta for living easy. Only thing easier is white suburban male hunter.

[nutjob]

Nanny State DFL Nazis wrote:

Isn't the catch and relase program in MN just great? Bahahahaha

Need to do some research before you wrote. Republican Judge, Republican prosecution, in a heavily republican community. She basically got "scooter libbyed." Friends, money, and power.

[Sarah]

Bi-polar disorder is a very serious illness. This could have been prevented if she had gotten treatment before this happened. However it sounds like both she AND her husband were resistant to it.

I don't think she should be allowed to have her children while unsupervised until it is proven that her treatment is effective. That means I don't think she should be spending three days a week with them alone during the six month period. And I do think six months is too short given that she apparently refused to get treatment.

Treatment doesn't always work. Until they are CERTAIN that she is stable, the children should be with her ONLY with supervision.

And while I do think she should be given a longer sentence, her case is not quite the same as the hunter because he drank alcohol and took drugs while hunting.

[GLOCK]

Female judge telling her that her job was to "take carew of her kids". It seems she already took care of one of them!!
As therapy maybe the judge should order her to open a day care center!
Who is crazier, her or the judge???????

[Following the dough]

Dakota County can't afford to lock her up! They would LOSE the STATE and FEDERAL tax dollars that they are receiving for "Assisting" this victim of the system. Child support collection, Childrens social services, medical assistance, housing aid, JOBS program, energy assistance, food stamps, child care assistance, Free lunch, and she was probably shopping with her cash assistance EBT card. Each of these programs move your tax dollars from state and federal sources into the county's hands.
This lady and her family is a windfall for Dakota County's coffers (too bad about the infant, perhaps if the children's best interests were concidered above the county's maximum return the child would be alive and in the care of a loving SANE parent)
SHAME on you Ms Metzen!

[TNR]

"God has a plan" I wonder if Gods plan also included Cecila dieing in a bath tub while mom looked for shoes.

The major flaw I find in all of this is, if she's mentally ill why was she aware enough to lie to the police when they arrived? Didn't she initally tell the police she was out of the bathroom for only a few minutes and the only way the police really uncovered the story was through a forensic analysis of her computer. Hmmm that sounds like self preservation at work.

If my daughter had just drowned in the bathtub I'm not sure if my state of mind would be capable of thoughts of self preservation

[Consistent]

Sarah wrote:

Bi-polar disorder is a very serious illness. This could have been prevented if she had gotten treatment before this happened. However it sounds like both she AND her husband were resistant to it.
I don't think she should be allowed to have her children while unsupervised until it is proven that her treatment is effective. That means I don't think she should be spending three days a week with them alone during the six month period. And I do think six months is too short given that she apparently refused to get treatment.
Treatment doesn't always work. Until they are CERTAIN that she is stable, the children should be with her ONLY with supervision.
And while I do think she should be given a longer sentence, her case is not quite the same as the hunter because he drank alcohol and took drugs while hunting.

Gotta toss Hubby in their eh? Which child did he kill?

Now IF, he had spanked one of um, 5th degree Domestic, Jail Time, Loss of Constitutional Rights, Anger management, Out of hisHome, No Contact Order with his other children, Probation,...and on and on. And

People like you Sarah...Confused Feminists, made the Law this way!! Evil males...Female Victimhod imbedded in the Law!

Bigots!

[Sarah]

Consistent wrote:

<quoted text>
Gotta toss Hubby in their eh? Which child did he kill?
Now IF, he had spanked one of um, 5th degree Domestic, Jail Time, Loss of Constitutional Rights, Anger management, Out of hisHome, No Contact Order with his other children, Probation,...and on and on. And
People like you Sarah...Confused Feminists, made the Law this way!! Evil males...Female Victimhod imbedded in the Law!
Bigots!

Good heavens, Con, get a grip on yourself. I said the woman should get a longer prison sentence and that she shouldn't be allowed to be unsupervised with her children.

Apparently you disagree.