OK, Mom Let the Child Die, but at Least They Didn’t Give the Dad Custody
The mother didn’t want the child, had attempted suicide before, was “struggling with the responsibilities of motherhood,” and dad wanted custody. The solution, of course, is for mom to have custody, at least until the baby dies…
Make sure to watch the TV report on the page with the article–it’s all about how mom feels, how mom struggled, how sad this whole thing is for mom–even though mom left her little boy in the car for 7 hours without checking on him while she worked at Hooters.
Oh, and don’t miss the Arizona State University newspaper editorial Opinions: For some mothers, it’s a no-win situation, which defends Duchene and blames the US’ lack of ”socialized childcare” for the little boy’s death.
Father of child who died in hot car wanted full custody
November 1, 2007
3TV and azfamily.com
Court documents reveal that the father of a toddler left in a hot car on Tuesday wanted full custody of his son.
The boy’s mother, Ashly Duchene, was arrested on one count of negligent homicide early Wednesday morning.
Duchene is still being closely watched, and it’s possible that she might have been transferred from Fourth Avenue Jail to another facility.
Police said Duchene left her 17-month-old son, Ryan Gallagher, in his car seat in her hot car for about seven hours on Tuesday.
Court documents show that the 22-year-old has attempted suicide in the past. Court documents also suggest that Duchene suffers from emotional problems and that “couldn’t take it anymore.”
Police believe Duchene was struggling with the responsibilities of motherhood.
“She’s not happy to care for her child,” Sgt. Joel Tranter said.
Duchene reportedly told police she almost forgot Ryan in the car on Monday.
The next day, she apparently forgot to take him to daycare before going to work at a Valley Hooter’s restaurant. She started work at 10 a.m., and got off at 5 p.m. That’s when she found Ryan in the car.
The decision was made to arrest Duchene on a charge of negligent homicide early Wednesday morning.
Investigators do not believe Duchene intentionally left her son in the car, but they’re not calling it an accident, either.
“She was very neglectful,” Tranter said. “She obviously failed to care for her child. … It was so grossly negligent that it rose to the level of criminal charges.”
Customers as well as strangers are dropping off flowers and teddy bears at the restaurant.
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Well, what I was saying before (to wrap up both comments) is that feminism is NOT the key issue … which someone above had mentioned… it really is male and female stereotypes… women are supposed to have children (according to our society!) and take care of them etc. men are not. Men have just as much right to custody as mothers… and extensive research and understanding should go into figuring out who is actually right for the child… mother or father (because like I said before… there are dead beat moms and dads) and not only the mother is wrong in the article above, but so was the judge. We need to take a good look at who these judges are that are granting custody only to women.. because that is an old ‘traditional’ practice, not a progressive one.
Sweater, now you are talking some common sense. I apologize for saying you have issues, but that is the way you came across.
When a mother puts in 40 hours per week earning a paycheck, that does not disqualify her from custody of her children.
What disqualifies the father is the mother not being dead, drug addicted, or in prison for a long stretch on felony conviction.
The reason for this, is money and the greed of the decision makers, of course.
Let’s not point fingers and saying that other people have issues… because i don’t think that someone’s opinion is an ‘issue’… it’s an opinion only.
And yes, you do make a very good point, and I agree that a lot of concepts behind alimony, child support, and custody are pretty messed up now. But most people have to work 40 hours a week today too… not just the male ‘breadwinner’… Most women have to work 40 hours a week as well (especially single parents). But the laws behind alimony, child support, and custody were created a long time ago, when women were not breadwinners… and would actually need that support to survive because the only job they could get would be waitressing, teaching, or being a secretary. Time have changed and I think that alimony, child support, and custody should change with them. I’m not saying that men shouldn’t be able to get custody, they should, and I believe that there are many women out there that woudln’t want custody/shouldn’t want custody of their children. And that goes for men too.
Sweater, you have issues.
I can tell you for a FACT that if a father spends 40 hours a week earning the paycheck, that is reason enough to deprive him of custody in a divorce proceeding.
The reason judges rule against breadwinning fathers is to maximise the transfer of assets and money from the breadwinner to the non-breadwinner, with the leaches in the government and divorce law firms taking their cut.
In response to the statement that “Sadly feminism has not been good for children.” It is NOT feminism’s fault that this woman didn’t take care of her child. It’s HER fault only. And as for political correctness involving custody, that is something that was instilled long before feminism came about! Women stayed home and cared for children and kept house. Men were the breadwinners. That’s patriarchy’s fault that women continue to have automatic custody of children, because of the original gender rolls that society placed on the sexes. For some reason society thinks that women should get the children over men because children need a mom not a dad… but that’s not a feminist thing either. Women are taught from a young age to NEED children. Men are taught to WANT children, and men usually don’t take as much responsibility that women do with them (stereotypically… and I’m basing that on MY experiences and experiences of my friends as well, our mothers raised us AND went to work and cleaned and cooked, our fathers saw us at night, ate dinner, and then took us out sometimes on weekends… our moms took us to school, went to work, picked us up, made us lunches etc… they did the hard work), so courts tend to favor women because of that.
I think that this woman was terrible, and whichever judge ruled in her favor and allowed her to care for her child was crazy… but, I do know men that went through severe year+ long custody battles and did obtain full custody of their children! I know both dead beat dads and dead beat moms… both of them exist and are equally detrimental to women… but feminism is not the culprit!
Also, I noticed that NOTHING was said in the article above but the fact that the father wasn’t given custody. Who is the father? Where does he live? Does he have a job? etc. Something, perhaps, during the custody battle, made the judge rule in favor of the mother? Extenuating circumstances: drug tests, unemployment verses employment, etc. could have been a good reason not to let the father have the child even if he wants custody.
Wow, it’s a good thing that they system had the best interest of the child in mind…..
Pathetic….
If it was so damned difficult and such a burden to take care of the child, why didn’t she ‘allow’ the father custody…
I’ll tell you why, because the child was “hers”.. Her property. In her eyes and in the eyes of the courts.
Let the tears flow and the killer walk. As per the norm when one has a vagina.
TMOTS
Two things that are very sad about this is case, is that firstly excuses will be made for the mothers behaviour, now if it had been the father who caused the death of this child. no excuse would be accepted.
The second is that custody of children is given to mothers because of political correctness, all levels from child protection workers up to the judges have it in their thick skulls that the best interest of the child, is with it’s mother. This is despite the fact that mothers commit the majority of child abuse.
One of the arguements presented against shared parenting has been that it will be giving abusers custody. The Abusers are already given custody some times like this with tragic results.
Sadly feminism has not been good for children.