Your question, how is this Ron's fault? Pittsburg, I am a parent, never, ever would I leave my children with someone I knew used drugs or alcohol. I wouldn't even leave my kids with someone who had a dog I considered maybe vicious. Ron had a responsibility for his children to see that they were as safe as possible when he was not there. He did not do that. He left them with someone he knew used drugs often and had questionable behavior. He couldn't control what happened when he was not there, but he could control the probability of what happened by being a concerned, mature parent who put his children before anything else. He just didn't do that. That is a point in these threads that baffles me. Ron was ultimately the caregiver, he made the choices of whom his children spent their time with. He made the understanding of what type of care they would receive. When he could not reach Misty and those children by phone, he should have been on his way home, since he had absolute knowledge of Misty's behavior. Does this make sense to you? I don't know another way to phrase it.
You are to be commended as an exemplary parent. But think of how that stand would play out in the real world. How many parents would then have to refuse to leave a child with a spouse who had a drinking problem? My father had a drinking problem all his adult life and he was perfectly reliable as a parent, on the job, etc. He was a functional individual who abused alcohol. Most of the disputes on the Haleigh threads come down to this: People don't like Ron because he has a record of using drugs and a demeanor that they find inappropriate or alarming. They don't like him because he had a very young girlfriend who was living with him who had perhaps even more serious problems with drugs, and she was responsible for the kids. I get that. I do. However, none of that makes him
responsible for what happened to Haleigh any more than a parent who lets a child drive a car is responsible for killing that child if he is involved in an accident or that (say) the Patz family is responsible for their son Etan's death because they let him walk a few blocks to the bus or Reve Walsh was responsible for Adam's disappearance because she took him to the mall. Looking back, they would all make different choices. No car, no walk to the bus, no mall, no Misty. And if Haleigh was abducted by a predator, her situation is no different than that of any child who is removed from his or her family life by a child molester. She and her family would be victims.
It's easy to say that Ron should have left work and perhaps lost his job to go home and check on Misty and the kids because
we know what happened that night because we are looking backwards. It is clear that he trusted Misty up to a point but he did indeed try to keep in contact by phone and send people to check on her--if we are to believe Misty's brother, one of those people was sent out and reported that the trailer was quiet. If his story is true, and that should have been easy to verify by phone records, Ron had no reason to believe that Misty was not home, had taken the kids out, or that a party was going on. In today's economy, anyone would have to think hard before jeopardizing a job, especially an individual with minimal education and marketable skills.
By your logic, Ed Smart is guilty because he didn't do a background check on his hired help. We don't like it but sometimes things we do have bad, unintended consequences. I in no way think the Smarts were responsible for what happened to their daughter. She was kidnapped by a disgusting pervert. Until we have
evidence that Ron, Misty, or Crystal made Haleigh disappear, I think we have to look at all the days and nights where Haleigh and Junior went to bed and woke up safe at home (with either parent) and all the days and nights since Haleigh disappeared that Junior has apparently gone to bed and woken up safe at home, even with the dreadful Misty living in the house for 7 months.
raying:
