GUILTY TN - Noah & Micah Scheulin, James Prindle for raping toddler, Cordova, 2010

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I'd like to remind everyone that there are literally hundreds of thousands of 15 year old boys and girls who babysit toddler siblings every single day. 15 year olds are often tapped to work in summer camps and church nurseries. I certainly had 15 year old babysitters when I was a child and I'm an only child. I'm just trying to point out that there's a lot of great kids out there lovingly caring for sibs. This boy seemed to waver under the influence of the younger troubled boys. IMO, he broke one of the golden rules--no friends over when you are caring for the baby. He will pay the price.

My heart goes out to this little girl. Most 2 year old girls can answer simple questions. I'm afraid that this child would have never gone along with "the man came in the window" scenario. I also agree that there should be no going home until everything is thoroughly investigated. If an initial review shows that the parents were not aware of what was happening, I hope for the the child's sake that she is allowed liberal visiting time with her family. She's confused and needs the see the people she loves--if they are deemed safe.
 
tlcox--I'm not certain but it sounds as if the boys called 911 to report a home invasion. Presumably they had already assaulted the baby and cooked up a story about how a person came in and harmed the child.

If the parents of the toddler left her with the brother AND two friends, I'm not OK. That's a recipe for disaster no matter the ages or the genders.

FWIW, our local YMCA offers classes in babysitting safety for teens 13 and up. Each state has different laws as to when children can legally be left in the care of siblings or young babysitters.
 
I agree missizzy, many 15 year olds are very responsible, loving caregivers for their siblings. Unfortunately, I have concerns about these three minors. It appears as if the two guests from across the street have already given clues that they are less than trustworthy. One of the acticles linked above said the two boys who lived across the street were not allowed to be at her house. This makes me think the parents were aware these two may be trouble. Most disturbing, some of the articles report the parents son (victim's brother) as being 15. I find it hard to believe that the 13 and 11 year old have led this 15 year old astray in to bad behavior. I think it more likely that these parents have had some clues regarding their own son's behavior that should have made them aware that he may not be appropriate to leave with the responsibility of that precious baby.

IMOE 15 year old boys don't SUDDENLY indulge in this sort of acting out one day at the urging of the other two, younger, neighbor boys. Again this is all In My Own Experience.
 
The Tennessee Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges states:

"There is no legal age for children to stay at home alone. Parents are advised to use their best judgment, keeping the child's maturity level and safety issues in mind."



Also, laws about babysitting ages:

http://www.wct-law.com/CM/Publications/Publications68.asp

"A person commits the offense of child abandonment when he or she, as a parent, guardian, or other person having physical custody or control of a child, without regard for the mental or physical health, safety, or welfare of that child, knowingly leaves that child who is under the age of 13 without supervision by a responsible person over the age of 14 for a period of 24 hours or more...."

more at link



Personally, I think it all boils down to common sense and knowing your children. I'm hoping that this family had no reason to distrust this brother prior to this event. We have to remember that a 25 year old sibling or nanny or au pair or aunt could have made the same stupid choice. Here on WS, we see it everyday.

In looking at forums where parents are inquiring about the laws concerning sibling babysitting, I'm struck by the number of people who grew up doing this and think nothing of it now. We all know that child abuse has been going on forever. This same scenario could have played out 30 years ago and LE might have been far more likely to have bought the story. JMO
 
ITA, tlcox, this behavior doesn't suddenly rear its ugly head one day. A few things that really bother me is that the 15 year old was led into previously unreported behavior. He's either highly impressionable or is extremely immature. Both of those issues, IMO, would rule him out as a babysitter. Can he do CPR, does he know basic first aid, etc.? He obviously did not put the baby's safety first. If he was 8, I'd be yelling for the parents to be locked up. But he's of a legal age to be babysitting and should be tried for his crime the same as any other caregiver.

We'll have to wait and see what comes out in the wash concerning the boys across the street. If they were forbidden in the house, what caused the brother to give in and let them in? I'm very interested in the dynamics here as I think parents need to pay attention to red flags and peer pressure.

Another frightful thought I had is that the three boys might have been watching *advertiser censored* and, given their ages, acted out. Tragic all around.
 
Just noticed that the thread directly under this one is about a child killed by her babysitter. That woman was 53.
 
tlcox said:
I agree missizzy, many 15 year olds are very responsible, loving caregivers for their siblings. Unfortunately, I have concerns about these three minors. It appears as if the two guests from across the street have already given clues that they are less than trustworthy. One of the acticles linked above said the two boys who lived across the street were not allowed to be at her house. This makes me think the parents were aware these two may be trouble. Most disturbing, some of the articles report the parents son (victim's brother) as being 15. I find it hard to believe that the 13 and 11 year old have led this 15 year old astray in to bad behavior. I think it more likely that these parents have had some clues regarding their own son's behavior that should have made them aware that he may not be appropriate to leave with the responsibility of that precious baby.

IMOE 15 year old boys don't SUDDENLY indulge in this sort of acting out one day at the urging of the other two, younger, neighbor boys. Again this is all In My Own Experience.
Click to expand...

This is what I think, too. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the 15 year old had done other things. One doesn't simply decide to rape one day; there would be a lead up to it. Also, if the neighbor boys are so terrible, and the brother is friends enough with them to have them in the house, then that says something, too. Good kids don't generally hang out with bad kids.

A kid doesn't suddenly wake up one day and think "I've always wanted to rape a baby, and Mom's not home today, so maybe I'll give it a whirl. I know it's wrong, but opportunity's knocking..." MOST kids wouldn't have it in them to do such a vile thing. This kid has done something before, I guarantee it.
 
We'll have to wait and see what comes out in the wash

snipped and borrowed from missizzy

Either you are showing your years or spent a lot of time with your grandmother, lol. You are the first person aside from myself that I have ever seen use that phrase and I agree, It'll all come out in the warsh eventually.
 
I needed a good chuckle about now, tlcox!!! Um....55 and lots of time with my beloved Texas born Grandma as a child. I'm a native born Californian but spent 14 years in Central Texas.

And you have to say wash, the real Texas way, "warsh". I say things like this in Southern Oregon and people look at me like I've lost my mind. LOL



Mr. E--I think a good comparison would be the recent rape and murder (or possibly the other way around) of the little 6 year old in Roseburg, OR by a 16 year old. When I went looking for comments about that young man, Dustin Wallace, I expected the typical, "But he was such a nice boy." Not at all. To a person, school mates were not surprised and adults had also noted the problems.

Dustin had been in treatment centers and a boot camp. It sounds as if his parents were doing everything to get him help. They made the error of allowing him to sleep in the same house as a child. But who would think that even a troubled, acting out boy, would enter a little girl's room and rape her? Who would leave a 15 year old who had sexually acted out with his sister to watch her?

I often think that we can only be "so careful". We have to keep our eyes open but we cannot smother our children as that's not healthy. I have to remember that my children were raped right under the noses of caring family and teachers. I thought I was hypervigilant and it still happened. The school was known to be safe and supportive and inviting and it happened there too. Life is all about weighing the risks.

Sadly this little girl came out the loser.
 
I kid you not, tlcox, I did not read your last two words carefully before I wrote my reply. That is too funny. Warsh it is. Do you also wrench your hair out good after shampooing?

I'll stop. Laughter is such a good thing.
 
I think I found a myspace for micah. Boy does he hate his dad!
 
Why can't I click on that and have a audio pronunciation? LOL I can't wait until Filly stumbles on this. Any bets as to whether she could bear to leave it alone. No way!! I'm still cracking up about the feeeants.

I feel guilty laughing but it's good for us.
 
I was just going back over all the articles and I found this:

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/new...accused-of-rape-have-past-with-juvenile-court


"Mayor AC Wharton is pushing a new initiative where juveniles with minor charges, would wear monitoring bracelets, instead of going through the court system.

"It could prevent something like the cases we just read about," said Wharton.

Wharton said the program would bring meaningful intervention to Memphis kids before it's too late. "By the time they get into criminal court--quite frankly, I know it's a horrible thing to say--many of them are lost causes by the time they get up to the big court," said Wharton....."


I don't want to sound glib or jaded but what on earth is Mayor Wharton talking about? I truly don't see how a monitoring device would have prevented this crime or many many others. Can someone clarify this for me. Maybe there's a backstory that I'm unaware of.
 
OMG OMG OMG

It's a horror story for the parents. The little girl was taken to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in critical condition and remained there Tuesday night.

I don't care about the boys -- hope they're treated like adults. The parents have some culpability for not protecting their child -- sorry I said it - period.

I am so so sorry for this little toddler. May she live, may she get over this somehow. May the perps live a living hell for the rest of their lives. And as far as the parents asking for privacy - well WTF. They don't deserve any privacy. Not after what THEIR son did to their daughter.

May CPS take this daughter out of the home, and put her in a loving home away from molesters.

Man...I'm shaking.

Mel
 
Missizzy said:
I was just going back over all the articles and I found this:

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/new...accused-of-rape-have-past-with-juvenile-court


"Mayor AC Wharton is pushing a new initiative where juveniles with minor charges, would wear monitoring bracelets, instead of going through the court system.

"It could prevent something like the cases we just read about," said Wharton.

Wharton said the program would bring meaningful intervention to Memphis kids before it's too late. "By the time they get into criminal court--quite frankly, I know it's a horrible thing to say--many of them are lost causes by the time they get up to the big court," said Wharton....."


I don't want to sound glib or jaded but what on earth is Mayor Wharton talking about? I truly don't see how a monitoring device would have prevented this crime or many many others. Can someone clarify this for me. Maybe there's a backstory that I'm unaware of.
Click to expand...

Is he out of his mind? What would a monitoring device prevent the perps from raping a child in the home? I'm sorry, but like Jeffrey Dahmer, if you start this behaviour as a kid, you might as well throw away the gene. And mind you, JD started by killing animals, then moved on to molesting children. There's no future, no rehabilitation for these monsters. Lock em up and throw away the key -- that's all LE can do.

If this child dies, I hope capital murder is placed upon their heads.

MOO

Mel

ETA: I managed to raise my son to 13. If the media was clammering at my door -- if my son did anything like that -- I'd send him out to the wolves. I wouldn't care. Mind you, I love my son, and have done my very best to raise him. In hope that he would NEVER get involved in anything so callous. Where were the parents? Why on earth would they leave him alone knowing he had problems all along!?????
 
If that is Micah's MS, I have one thing to say--he's a baby. My Lord, he's young and healthy looking and well cared for. He has a nice home, a lovely sister, and pets. He plays music and seems to be a "normal kid". That's not what I was expecting. The comment to his Dad, while inappropriate, is pretty common at 11. To me, it sounds as if he was sent to Dad's place in Memphis for a visit and did not enjoy himself. The rape must have occurred just after he returned home.

There isn't a soul, IMO, who could see this coming by just looking at him. I've raised 9 boys (plus 2) and I have a pretty good radar. I wouldn't pick him out of the crowd as the one who would rape a toddler. Never.

I want to know what other than truancy that this child has been in trouble for in the past.

And a question here. Is it just me or does it seem very uncomfortable to be discussing an 11 year old who is facing adult charges, with full media coverage?
 
I think this is a heinous crime for everyone involved. I agree with the posts indicating that the younger boys at least have been incredibly lacking in supervision...clearly the 15 year old has at least for one night when he needed it the most.

My heart breaks for these families, but there needs to be some transparency in the response to this crime because this is unspeakable. JMO
 
Don't know if I am allowed to post links, but I think I found some social networking profiles for the mom (DS) and dad (RS) of the 13 and 11 year old perps. Sounds like a lot of drama in that family, not surprisingly. :\
 
The 11-yr old claims to be "in a relationship" ? Yikes...
He looks/is such a little boy.
But 15 is a long way from 11.
 
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