Bad Parenting Led To Kidnapping?

[Boltrig]

I dont know if anyone Stateside has seen this, but im assuming most of the UK team will have.

I sympathise with the parents, and it is a tradgedy that their child has been taken, but does anyone else think that this is a case of severly bad parenting at the root of it?

"..Her parents had been dining at a Tapas bar several hundred metres away but had checked on Madeleine and their other children, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, every 30 minutes."

"..Gerry’s sister Philomena slammed Portuguese police for not doing enough to find Madeleine’s faster. "

But the kicker is this:

"The McCanns could have dropped all their three children off at a drop-in creche provided by the Mark Warner holiday firm at the Ocean Club while they dined out last Thursday, or paid for one of the firm’s staff to babysit for them at the apartment, but chose not to use either option."

They would rather leave 3 children, with a combined age of 7, alone in a hotel room instead of paying a few extra euros to use the creche or private childminder.

Of course no-one expects tohave their hotel room broken into, but I have to say I tihnk it was a supremely bad idea to leave the kids alone in the first place.

I can only hope that Madeleine is found safely, and that the parents will have more sense in the future.

[LazyDrunk]

Win some ya lose some.

They have great parenting mentality. Like kids are a fancy watch or new steering wheel cover.

Malthus would love these folk.

[stafffighter]

I hope they find the girl but I cannot beleive that parents who would leave children that young on their own give a shit about her.

[HighlyIllogical]

Malthus has always struck me as sort of a callous prophet of doom.

[Malachy]

children that young should never be left alone without adults. It's irresponsible simply because they can easily hurt themselves in a non-childproofed hotel room and if you're out to eat, there's nobody there to make sure the kids are OK!

I dont see why they are even surprised. I bet they are the type to be surprised that when they leave the keys in the car and the doors unlocked it winds up stolen.

It's sad that the child is missing a possibly being held by a pedophile, but from the story I dont feel the police were slow, hell they held off using a sketch of the suspect to protect the girl. the parents probably only want retribution, the health of the child is beside the point.

[stafffighter]

At 5/6/07 06:54 PM, Malachy wrote:

It's sad that the child is missing a possibly being held by a pedophile, but from the story I dont feel the police were slow, hell they held off using a sketch of the suspect to protect the girl. the parents probably only want retribution, the health of the child is beside the point.

Like a wise man once said "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." If the parents spent a little bit o money getting a babysitter it wouldn't matter how slow the police were. Everything that happens to that girl is on those parents heads. If (God willing) they find her she should go straight from medical attention to protective custudy.

[HighlyIllogical]

Sounds like a case that, in the US, would go straight to probate to assign a guardian ad litem.

[Dre-Man]

It doesn't matter whether they got kidnapped or not, any number of things could have happened to those children in that hotel room.

That's not a safe thing to do under any circumstance.

[morefngdbs]

THey should have their other children taken away for their own safety.
Bloody hell, what kind of parent leaves their babies alone ! in a strange place ! WHile they go out for a lovely meal.
I think kicking their asses is also in order.

[aryanpride88]

Some people shouldn't be allowed to breed.

[D2Kvirus]

I noticed yesterday the parents were blaming the Portuguese police for the events. Funny, I didn't read anything about the Portuguese police being in charge of the child, and leaving it alone in an unlocked holiday apartment. Did anyone else?

You can see that they'll separate when it's died down (as Sarah Paine's parents did after she was killed due to the mother's negligence and nothing more).

[Brick-top]

At 5/9/07 11:43 AM, D2Kvirus wrote: I noticed yesterday the parents were blaming the Portuguese police for the events. Funny, I didn't read anything about the Portuguese police being in charge of the child, and leaving it alone in an unlocked holiday apartment. Did anyone else?

No, they are blaming the police that they are not doing enough to find the missing girl. However the tourists there think they are doing a good job, even though there going on practically nothing.

I'll tell you a little secret that us brits keep to ourselves, british parents know jack shit on parenting.

[troubles1]

I HAVE TWO KIDS A DAUGHTER 3 AND A SON 16 MONTHS. Neither my wife or myself leave our kids alone that is plain irresponsible. they had options available to them yet they chose not to use them now the little girl is in the hands of a SICK PEDIOPHILE, YES LEGAL ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN, THE OTHER CHILDREN NEED TO BE REMOVED.

It also sickens me how the people from the UK respond on how they think nothing should be done to the parents. What? are the parents in EUROPE all Irresponsible?

[HighlyIllogical]

Hey, don't blame Europe...
At least they have free health care for all children (in many European countries, anyway).

[uhnoesanoob]

At 5/9/07 07:17 PM, HighlyIllogical wrote: Hey, don't blame Europe...
At least they have free health care for all children (in many European countries, anyway).

Socialized medicine= TERRIBLE IDEA.
It cripples competition.

[troubles1]

At 5/9/07 07:17 PM, HighlyIllogical wrote: Hey, don't blame Europe...
At least they have free health care for all children (in many European countries, anyway).

but I guess that does not include a dentist does it? LOL

[bcdemon]

I have to agree with the parents on one single issue, the Portuguese police are not doing enough. The first thing they should have done is thrown mom & dad in the clink for leaving thier children alone. It is incredibly unreasonable for the parents to be pissed at the police for anything, if they (the parents) had taken the PROPER steps in childcare, they wouldn't have needed the police in the first place.

[LegendaryLukus]

Whether or not you think the parents did right or wrong in thinking that they could leave their children unsupervised for a few minutes in a world like this, why don't you just keep it to yourself. The last thing the parents need right now is moronic people saying 'I told you so' when their daughter is missing.

[bcdemon]

At 5/11/07 01:42 PM, LegendaryLukus wrote: Whether or not you think the parents did right or wrong in thinking that they could leave their children unsupervised for a few minutes in a world like this, why don't you just keep it to yourself. The last thing the parents need right now is moronic people saying 'I told you so' when their daughter is missing.

Sorry Lukus, but as a parent, that shit just flows when you hear of stories like this. Shit man, I get nervous going out to my backyard when my kid is sleeping, you just never know what can happen with kids.

[LegendaryLukus]

At 5/12/07 06:28 AM, bcdemon wrote: Sorry Lukus, but as a parent, that shit just flows when you hear of stories like this. Shit man, I get nervous going out to my backyard when my kid is sleeping, you just never know what can happen with kids.

Fair enough I suppose, but when I see people on the news openly criticising the parents, it just seems unnecessary and cruel.

You can see the stress of the situation is taking a particular toll on the mother, who looks to have lost a lot of weight. I just think that these opinions could be kept private.

[D2Kvirus]

At 5/9/07 01:31 PM, Brick-top wrote:
No, they are blaming the police that they are not doing enough to find the missing girl.

That was on the headlines on Wednesday (I think) - we see a Portuguese police officer looking around and wlak up to a door, and walk away. The reporter then follows him and asks why he didn't go inside the house, in case the girl was in there.

Riught, apart from the fact it's more than a little counterproductive and a waste of a hell of a lot of time to search every house in the region, I do believe that the Portuguese police have proceedures to follow: such as obtaining a warrent to search a premeses unless given indication they should immediatly kick the door down and rush in.

But, hey, doesn't make as good trash TV news, does it?

[viper-xeon]

some thing feel's very strange about them witch i can't put my finger on.

[JoS]

The kids were asleep at the time I believe. I could be wrong but thats what I heard on the radio this morning.

[viper-xeon]

like what kind of person would leave small children in a unkonw place?they are trainded in the medical field and you would think they would be more careing for there kid's than that,just leaveing them there in a room eaven if they didn't get kiddnaped some thing bad could of happend to them like: falling over,felling sick..ect.. i think it is very stupid to leave kid's unatended in a holtel room.

[D2Kvirus]

Am I alone in thinking it got even further out of hand, and is now nestling between the shoulder blades, when their first suspect, Robert Murat, was reported to the police by a Mirror reporter?

Apart from the fact there was no real evidence, and they couldn't hold him (and I note he hasn't skipped town), the way this was splashed across the tabloid front pages made it look as if they finally made that final stepo and made their own stories up, using the Portuguese police as unwilling stooges.

When he was released, a Russian man was taken in, yet this didn't get the mass coverage - hang on, isn't that also front page worthy?

The Portuguese authorities are currently saying that all the rewards being offered are getting in the way, as any crank with their eyes on a large sum of cash is now flooding the investigation with hoax reports.

So, congratualations are in order for the British tabloid media, who managed to make a circus out of the disappearance, the investigation, the arrests, and it is pretty much written now that when they find Madeleine, she'll be long dead. A grim irony will be if she was murdered on the day Murat was rounded up, and the kidnapper panicked and took drastic action.

[morefngdbs]

At 5/12/07 07:00 AM, LegendaryLukus wrote: You can see the stress of the situation is taking a particular toll on the mother, who looks to have lost a lot of weight. I just think that these opinions could be kept private.

;
Wow, the stress is bothering mom.
Can you get your head around how much ----STRESS---- that little girl might have experienced, maybe you might think of how much TERROR she went through.
I have 2 little girls, I don't feel anything for the mother.
Actually I do feel contempt for her & the father as well.

It is too bad that they can't feel themselves, what that poor little girl has.
Both of those so called parents are a waste of food.

[Alphabit]

Yes, most definitely.
The parent's didn't take the precautions necessary. It's not that they don't care about their child, it's just that they weren't careful enough. It is bad parenting, you should never let a child that young alone for that long.

[oldharry101]

At 5/9/07 10:11 PM, troubles1 wrote:

At 5/9/07 07:17 PM, HighlyIllogical wrote: Hey, don't blame Europe...
At least they have free health care for all children (in many European countries, anyway).

but I guess that does not include a dentist does it? LOL

it does in England, also, britain mad america, so shut up!

[D2Kvirus]

At 5/20/07 09:24 AM, Alphabit wrote:
The parent's didn't take the precautions necessary. It's not that they don't care about their child, it's just that they weren't careful enough. It is bad parenting, you should never let a child that young alone for that long.

It's actually illegal to leave under-fives unsupervised in any situation, and since Madeleine's fourth birthday was last week, the fact is the parents really did suffer from karma biting them on the backside.

Another thing I noticed is they have three other kids - ffor half a second I thought maybe they miscalculated and left her at home.

[D2Kvirus]

Trial by Fleet Street
(Taken from Private Eye #1185)

Senior managers at the Sunday Mirror, perhaps buoyed by their triumph last December when supermarket worker Tom Stephens was arrested on suspicion of the murder of five prostitutes in Ipswich after pouring his heart out to the paper (before being released three days later when someone entirely different was charged), advised reporter Lori Campbell to go to both Portuguese and Leicestershire police with her suspicions about Robert Murat.

Mr Murat had been offering translation services to those involved with the investigation into the disappearance of British toddler Madeleiene McCann in Praia de Luz. "He was acting very strangely. I found him to be creepy," Campbell told police. "Given the unimaginable horrors which Madeleine's parents were enduring, it seemed the very least I should do."

As the Eye went to press, the police still insisted there was not enough evidence to charge Mr Murat with anything - despite the best efforts of the British newspapers...

Contradictory evidence

"Chillingly, Murat said: 'I know how it feels to Madeleine's parents because I have a daughter aged three and a half'."
(news report, Express, 15th May)

"As a parent of a four-year-old little girl it breaks my heart to imagine the anguish the parents must be going through."
(Letter of the Day, Express, 15th May)

"Murat was reluctant to be filmed."
(The Sun, 15th May, page 4, paragraph 11)

"He told his story and wandered around the scene in front of TV cameras."
(The Sun, 15th May, page 4, paragraph 14)

"For the last few days Mr Murat had helped out the media. He has a very friendly relationship with the police."
(Daily Mail, 15th May)

"He continually haunted the crime scene."
(Daily Mail, 17th May)

"police swooped on Moscow-born Malinka, 22, after discovering emails from him on Murat's computer."
(Mirror, 17th May)

"Mr Malinka conformed that he worked for Mr Murat earlier this year to create a website for his estate agency. The Russian citizen is believed to have volunteered to help police."
(The Times, May 17th)

"THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE: RUSSIAN PERVERT QUIZZED."
(Headline on Mirror website, 17th May, morning)

"THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE: RUSSIAN QUIZZED."
(Headline on Mirror website, 17th May, afternoon)

"MADELEINE: THE EVIDENCE
Casa Liliana - Two-storey white-painted villa 150 yards from McCann apartment. Sniffer dogs go 'mental' on entering. Search of villa, roof, grounds, garage, a small shed beneath the pool where chemicals appeared to be stored, and the Murat's green van and Hyundai. Swimming pool drained, internal walls torn down, garden cesspit checked. Three video casettes and communications equipment seized. Shredded paper found at Casa Liliana could not be reassembled. Results of tests for DNA and fibres found at Murat villa awaited."
(Mirror, 19th May)

"Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleiene McCann have found no 'material proof' from the villa of their prime suspect, the Briton Robert Murat. The results of DNA tests at the villa Mr Murat shares with his mother, 160 yardsfrom the McCann's apartment, are still awaited, but initial forensic analysis has turned up nothing and there is no evidence of a kidnap."
(Independent, 19th May)

Suspicious behaviour

"Madeliene McCann abduction suspect Robert Murat astonished pals by leaping on children's bouncy castles at parties, his ex-boss claimed yesterday. Murat, 33 - quizzed by Portugeuese cops over Maddie, four - couldn't resist playing on the inflatible toys at work bashes. Former boss Paul Titcombe said: 'Instead of mingling, he'd go straight to the bouncy castle and jump around...It seemed like a fixation'."
(The Sun, 16th May)

"Mr Murat phoned the Auto Rent III ofice opposite the church in Praia de Luz to order a car. Sales assistant Maria Rocco said: 'There was something about his voice when he asked for the car. He was saying, I need to have the car quickly. His voice was very impatient. When I said he could not have it straight away he said, Oh, maybe I need to try somewhere else. I could tell from his voice that he needed it in a hurry'."
(Daily Mail, 18th May)

"Police were also last night examining the possibility that Murat had access to dozens of unoccupied properties in the surrounding area in his role as a local estate agent."
(Daily Star, 19th May)

Deceptive appearances

"MADDY SUSPECT BAHAVED JUST LIKE HUNTLEY."
(Front page headline of Daily Express, 16th May, referring to Ian Huntley's conversations to reporters in Soham, rather than the fact he murdered two children)

"SEX SECRETS OF MADDY SUSPECT...MADDY MAN SHARES GIRL WITH HUBBY."
(Headline in Daily Star reporting fact that Robert Murat is in a relationship with a 34-year old woman, 16th May).

And moral indignation

"The McCanns...are desperate to keep Madeleine on the front pages because they think it may lead to a sighting. Sometimes their efforts can create uncomfortable images. Photographs appeared yesterday of Mrs McCann jogging, wearing black shorts and crop top, midriff on show. While her trips to church seemed right, the sight of her devoting time to keep fit may have seemed disquieting."
(The Telegraph, which nevertheless printed the pictures in question in a double-page spread, 18th May).

Also in the same issue, it notes that more reporters were dispatched to Praia de Luz to report on a story where there was virtually nothing to report, than were dispatched to the Lebanon lst summer for the Israeli invasion.