Dad Charged After Viral Photo of Son Crawling on Busy Road

When it comes to having a baby, it’s never quite like how it’s portrayed in the movies. Babies have a mind of their own and when left to their own devices, can and sometimes do, get themselves in outlandish situations that are extremely detrimental and dangerous for them. When it comes to being a parent, you have to have eyes in the back of your head, to the side and about thirty other places on your body just to keep up with all the things your child is eager to try out.

For one New Jersey couple, their child got out of the house - and crawled on a dangerous road in the middle of oncoming traffic.

I get sweaty palms even talking about this, because as a father myself, the horror that washes over me when I think about that child getting hit by an oncoming vehicle and perhaps dying is nauseating. It’d be the true definition of a tragedy. As a driver, the last thing you’re expecting on the road is a toddler crawling across the pavement. As a parent, it’s a scenario you can’t even fathom you and your family would be involved in.

Luckily, the child was not injured or hit by a car and was rescued by a passing driver. Evgeniy Dorman, 41, of Lakewood, New Jersey was recently charged with child neglect and cruelty which is considered to be a fourth-degree crime in the state. Dorman apparently surrendered himself to Lakewood police on Friday, September 28, 2018.

Lakewood police determined that Dorman’s 10-month old son crawled out of the front door which was probably unsecured at the time before crawling 140 feet onto Joe Parker Road which has a 40-mph speed limit.

Cory Cannon, a passerby on his way to work, initially saw the 10-month old child and thought it was a toy or a road obstruction. When he noticed the child actually moving, he jumped out of his vehicle and snapped a photo of him, before blocking traffic to rescue the child. Controversy has since sparked over whether or not Cannon should have snapped a photo of the incident before picking up the child - a few second difference that could have had catastrophic or fatal consequences.

Dorman, is currently released and pending a future court date and we’ll see what unfolds as time goes on. At the end of the day, all that matters is that the child was unharmed and that an investigation is underway to ensure something as horrific as this never happens again.