Sometimes, things just don’t go according to plan. Everyone has experienced this at one time or another. Whether you intend to leave on time for work and spill your coffee, making you late or you have everything scheduled out for your vacation and the transportation breaks down making you miss your scheduled events. Basically, life happens. One family had a ‘life happens’ moment, and it ended up getting them charged with Child Abuse. According to the news report, a family had gone out to run errands and had planned to be home the same time their 11-year-old returned. Because of some traffic issues, the family was running late and their 11-year-old son beat them home.
The boy decided to grab a basketball and shoot hoops while he waited for his parents to return. A neighbor, seeing the boy was home alone, called the police and the police contacted Child Protective Services (CPS). When the parents arrived home, they were arrested for Child Abuse and their 11-year-old and 4-year-old sons were taken by CPS. The boys were placed in foster care for 2 days while waiting for a background check on a relative to clear. They remained with that family member for a month before the courts would allow the children to go back to their home with their parents.
Child Abuse in Larimer County
Colorado law’s definition of Child Abuse – C.R.S. 18-6-401 – is:
Usually, when a person hears the term ‘Child Abuse’ they think injury, but this is often not the case in Larimer, Boulder, and Grand County. Cases similar to the one above are very common. A child is accidentally left behind at a park when mom thinks he is with dad and dad thinks he is with mom. Parents decide to let their child walk to the park to play and someone calls the police because the child is unsupervised. These are not instances of abuse, but often Child Abuse charges result if the police become involved.
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Child Protective Services: Sometimes Causing More Harm than Good in Fort Collins
An experienced attorney will be able to fight against trumped up charges and win the case at trial.
When considering the elements of this case, the boy was not in any imminent danger, he was not harmed, nor was he even upset. He was simply and calmly waiting for his parents to come home, because he knew they would. The fact his parents were not home right when he arrived did not harm the 11-year-old. The month the child spent away from his parents in foster care and with relatives is far more damaging and harmful than the hour he spent at his house alone. The fact is, there is no minimum age requirement for a child to be left home alone in Colorado. While the Colorado Department of Human Services suggests a minimum age of 12 in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, this is not a law, just a suggestion. An experienced attorney will be able to fight against trumped up charges and win the case at trial.