Have I missed where TH was getting all of his money?
Just wondering if the child support was given directly to him by his mom, or if he had an illegal money making way.
LE sees the gross pictures on your phone so you immediately go out and get a new one? Not everyone that age can do that but perhaps he told his mom that his was broke.
As for the mom not knowing what was going on with and who her son was/is, I find that not believable. I'm okay with others that can bellieve it. I know plenty of people that check out on their kids throughout the childhood and adult life but they still know. They just choose to stick their head in the sand and pretend they don't. Do I blame her though? Some I guess. That said I'm not her and haven't walked in her shoes and hindsight is better than foresight. I think there would have been signs all along the way that TH just wasn't right. I know how some parents love with all their might and honestly can't see until it's so far along they don't know what to do with their child anymore. How to fix them. Never had any idea they wouldn't pull out of it.
I do feel bad for this mom in some ways. As much as I would like to think it would/never could happen to me I'm sure there is a lot more out there that think the same and their child eventually murders someone.
MOO
I highly doubt his mom knew about his online activities, or anything that went on while she was at work. MOO, he was probably doing a variety of illegal things to get money.
A single mother working long hour to pay the bills and then on top of that take care of all the other necessities that have to be done, just to survive and maintain a home, doesn't have a whole lot of time to watch over a 17 going on 18 yr olds back. You go to work, eat, sleep and get up to do it all over again. Unfortunately, that's just life for many.
I think he probably did most of his illegal activities from the home when she was at work, or at night when she was asleep. He most likely told her he was looking for work during the day. He really could have told her all kinds of lies for what he was doing and she wouldn't have known different.
I can see how she would be blind to a lot of it, if he kept it on the low when she was home and awake. Honestly, she probably didn't know what to do with him. There aren't a lot of options for supervision of an adult child with a car.
I don't know the answer to this problem. There are many kids near that age that get on the wrong path. Everyone doesn't have family to help. Community resources for troubled youth aren't readily available. We don't know what she may have tried in the past. Even so, by the time they reach his age, these kids are going to do what they want and there really isn't much of anything a parent can do to stop them.
I wish we had the answers. There are so many near his age in my city and others involved in gang activity. These "kids" are cold blooded murderers, killing each other. They need good mentors, from an early age on.