Mom Arrested After Letting Child Walk to the Park

A 34-year-old mother faces felony charges after letting her 7-year-old son walk to a park less than a half-mile from their Port St. Lucie home.

The arrest took place on the afternoon of July 26 after someone called the police department when they spotted Dominic Gainey on his way to Sportsman’s Park, according to CNN. The route to the park follows the one he uses to ride his bicycle to school.

According to ABC News, the person who spotted Dominic was a lifeguard at a public pool located between the boy’s house and the park. The boy, frightened by the questioning, ran away, crossing a six-lane road in the process. That’s when police were called.

When an officer caught up with Dominic in the park, the boy told him his mother “gives me the phone and tells me to go.”

While Nicole Gainey now faces felony charges, The Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based civil liberties group, has stepped in to provide legal counsel, ABC reports.

John Whitehead, an attorney with the group, told CNN Gainey will plead not guilty if the charges make it to court. The recent rise in neglect charges across the country in similar cases has Whitehead concerned.

“Something has shifted and now we’re in the middle of a dangerous societal trend of arresting parents for noncriminal activities,” CNN quoted him as saying.

Another recent case came out of South Carolina where mother Debra Harrell was arrested for letting her 9-year-old daughter play at a park close to her place of employment.

What age do you think is appropriate for letting a child walk to a nearby destination? Tell us by commenting below!