I think Hope acted very stupidly, in every regard. From partaking in the drug deal, fangirling over Ron, to her phonecall with her mother and in how she dealt with her criminal charges. Here's a girl who is a casualty of the life she was born into - she never really had a chance. She doesn't come across as being particularly well-educated or naturally clever. She's made a lot of dumb choices but something tells me that it's all she really knows. It's easy to say 'there's always a choice' when for some, in fact, there certainly isn't. I feel sorry for her because it's only a pure accident of birth that I, or anyone else, wasn't born into her situation. Unfortunately, you can't pick your family. The fact that she views Ron Cummings as a hero figure, someone to look up to, speaks volumes about her.
Hope never had a chance starting out in life, and she's turned into a pretty nasty young woman. However, the right kind of treatment, counselling and influence could help her to turn her life around. Lock her up long-term in a rehabilitation center, by all means. Get her away from the low-lifes she currently associating with. Show her that she can have a better life, if she wants to make a big effort to turn it all around. Sentencing her to 15 years in jail has effectively ended any chance she might have had to make a better life for herself. I hope she can get it reduced with her rehearing - thanks to raisincharlie for the information. Her current sentence is unfair and it will probably make her very bitter, she already has a huge chip on her shoulder. I would be surprised if she doesn't turn to drugs in prison. What kind of life is in store for her once she's released? What kind of job opportunities will be available to her? She'll be too old for stripping. Lowest-rent prostitute, maybe?
I feel sorry for all of these kids, even Misty. Both of her parents are drug addicts and criminals and they turned young Misty onto drugs. Tommy got into his father's pain meds and started taking opiates from there. The young Croslins were often homeless and hungry as children. We can only imagine the kind of life they led, with drug dealers kicking down the doors as per GM Flora. What can anyone expect of children raised like this? What kind of choices can we expect them to make when this is the only life they know? I'm not surprised Misty seems so dependant on men and clung like a limpet to the first guy that offered to give her a roof over her head. I would imagine that her young life was many times worse than HaLeigh's. Just a few years ago we would have pitied Misty, not reviled her. What's to say HaLeigh wouldn't have grown up and turned into another Misty? Should we not be happy that the world has to endure one less Cummings/Croslin? A lethal mix, if you ask me. [I don't mean this, I'm playing devil's advocate] Society needs to sucessfully act for kids that are brought up in these damaging kind of environments, instead of turning it's back on them. Institutions like the DCF are useless and often send children into worse situations of abuse in institutions and foster homes. The system is shamefully failing our most vulnerable members of society. Had these kids, including Hope, been raised in a loving and nuturing environment they would have never found themselves in the predicament they are in today.
Here we have two extended families that are royally messed up. Even Ron didn't get off lightly and was taken in by Grandma, along with his sister. Delving into the relationship between Crystal Sheffield and her mother hints at a controlling and abusive relationship as well. All of these parents have utterly failed their children. They have not equipped them to lead healthy, happy lives like you or I. Nature and nurture (or in this case lack of) has made them the way they are today. What happened to Haleigh was a direct casualty of this lifestyle. I don't know anything about Lindsy's family but I'm willing to bet she was not raised by drug addicts and had a loving upbringing.
Many people following the case, like the good folk on this forum, are genuinely concerned about the fate of this tragic little angel, Haleigh, and anxious to see the perpetrators brought to justice. Because of that, this is the only place that I now regularly visit to keep updated. Elsewhere, I see this case being treated like some reality soap opera with some of the public actually delighting in the most sordid aspects of this case. Revelling in every tragic detail that's been revealed. I almost get the sense that some enjoy it, readily picking on only the most degraded and debauched rumours and gleefully running with them. It's disgusting and some of those who do it have far sicker minds than any of the Cummings or Croslin gang. This story has become the nation's 'guilty pleasure'. I've just come from a link to a jailhouse audio where a number of posters thanked the blogger for their 'fix'. How inappropriate is that when underlying it all, we still do not know what happened to this poor little girl.
Locking up Hope is only delaying the inevitable. She will emerge from jail, probably still a drug addict and go on to bring another generation into this mess. Where is the rehabilitation? I have great pity for Hope and the others involved in this situation, while still believing their actions with regard to the drug bust and, of course, Haleigh should be punished. Outside of solving the fate of Haleigh, this case should serve as an eye-opener into the real lives of our poor, uneducated and marginalised brothers and sisters. While there will always be bad eggs and black sheep, every child born into this world is a blank slate, tabula rasa, and the onus is on the parents and society to ensure they are raised to become upstanding adults and fit members of our communities.
Sorry for the rant. Apologies if some of it's too far off-topic. Every aspect of this case is breaking my heart. :frown: :no: :frown:
