# Understanding Child Endangerment - Baby left alone in car **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369 "2010-04-16T17:41:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/1 "2010-04-16T17:41:05Z")
A couple left their 7 week old baby in their car in a parking garage while they gambled in a casino for 2.5 hours. It was 8 pm and 54 degrees outside. The baby was wearing a cotton sleeveless one-piece. There was a blanket over the baby car seat. A security guard noticed the baby’s hand when he saw the car was parked well away from all other cars. They parents are being charged with child endangerment. My question is … what’s the risk of harm in this situation? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/2 "2010-04-16T17:48:27Z")
Really? An infant is left unattended in a casino parking garage for 2.5 hours, and you don’t see a potential for harm? Kidnapping, exposure…it was 54 degrees, pretty chilly, and the baby was wearing thin clothing with a single blanket. Choking–nobody to help the child if it choked, spit up, vomited or otherwise had health issues. Nobody to respond to any possible problem the child may have experienced. Also, stupidity. Every casino I’ve ever been to–and that includes quite a few, has signs all over the parking garage saying not to do this (applies to elderly as well as children), and that Police/Social Services will be called. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/3 "2010-04-16T17:48:38Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > A couple left their 7 week old baby in their car in a parking garage while they gambled in a casino for 2.5 hours. It was 8 pm and 54 degrees outside. The baby was wearing a cotton sleeveless one-piece. There was a blanket over the baby car seat. A security guard noticed the baby’s hand when he saw the car was parked well away from all other cars. > > They parents are being charged with child endangerment. > > My question is … what’s the risk of harm in this situation? It is socially unacceptable to leave a child unattended in North America. However, there are a few things that could actually go wrong - the kid could wriggle or slide out or partially out of the seat. The kid could vomit and aspirate. The temperature could change dramatically - you don’t say where this happened. Did they leave the windows cracked? Wild animals, like crows could get in and peck Jimmy’s eyes out. The kid or the car could be stolen, the car could be hit by another car in the garage. We live in a society where very close observation of tiny kids is assumed. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/4 "2010-04-16T17:51:31Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > you don’t see a potential for harm? I never said that. I am wondering what kind of things could go wrong in the eyes of the state. Kidnapping was the obvious one. I was looking for others. This is in the Sacramento, CA area. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/5 "2010-04-16T18:00:22Z")
Car fire due to some fault in it, perhaps. There are similar charges possible if a child is left in the home alone. Less chance of kidnapping or environmental problems, but other terrible problems could still result. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/6 "2010-04-16T18:05:20Z")
All three of them run the risk of crapping out. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/7 "2010-04-16T18:06:06Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Car fire due to some fault in it, perhaps. > > There are similar charges possible if a child is left in the home alone. Less chance of kidnapping or environmental problems, but other terrible problems could still result. I was wondering that, too. However, a read an attorney website and found this tidbit where the court found NO criminal negligence: > [@](#): > > A mother left her four small children (between the ages of 2 and 6) home alone while she went to a bar. Hours after she had been gone, a fire erupted. Although a neighbor was able to save three of the children, the two-year-old was killed in the fire. (People v. Rodriguez (1961), 186 Cal.App.2d 433.) So, I was confused about the difference between a 54 degree car and someone’s house. In both the car and the home, you have a risk of vomit choking, fire, etc. I don’t know if 54 degrees is dangerously cold for an infant. ETA: I am not connected to this case in any way … just saw it on the news. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/8 "2010-04-16T18:11:20Z")
Babies that young have a hard time regulating their body temperatures - that’s why you see infants shiver sometimes even when it’s not cold. 54 degrees doesn’t feel that cold to an adult, but it’s damn cold for a 7 week old infant. A blanket and a cotton one-piece isn’t a very warm outfit. Suffocating under the blanket would be a possibility, too. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/9 "2010-04-16T18:14:36Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > … what’s the risk of harm in this situation? feelings of abandonment choking kidnapping car accident internal combustion battery explosion earthquake lightning strike car jacking car towed to an impound lot ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/10 "2010-04-16T18:15:41Z")
So, leaving an infant alone in a 54 degree house would be criminal, but a 70 degree house, maybe not? ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/11 "2010-04-16T18:17:47Z")
feelings of abandonment (same risk of harm in a house - not criminal) choking (same risk of harm in a house - not criminal) kidnapping car accident internal combustion (similar risk of harm in a house - not criminal) battery explosion (similar risk of harm in a house - not criminal) earthquake (similar risk of harm in a house - not criminal) lightning strike (no real risk of harm there in a car) car jacking car towed to an impound lot ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/12 "2010-04-16T18:36:23Z")
Leaving a child alone in the house is also criminal. I would suspect that this judge felt the woman, having already lost her home and a child, had been punished enough. I don’t agree there. Children are a 24/7 job. It is exhausting and unrelenting work. Deal with it. I share a property line with a 7/11 store. The baby monitor is powerful enough that I could still hear her if I went over there while she was napping. Several times I have wanted some little thing which I could easily grab in five minutes and be back without incident. I have never been able to do it. There is just something so unthinkable about leaving her alone in the house, no matter how close I will be; I can’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/13 "2010-04-16T18:51:51Z")
Although the risks here were probably slight, I think the larger issue is that anyone who would do that really is not a fit parent. I mean, I’m a parent, and even to think of leaving a child that small all alone is mind boggling. What else might these parents do? I can’t even image wild primates totally abandoning their 7 week old baby! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/14 "2010-04-16T18:54:51Z")
A 2010 Puliter-Prize winner [covered this topic.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549.html) Interesting topic, well-written, and wrist-slittingly depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/15 "2010-04-16T18:55:33Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Although the risks here were probably slight, I think the larger issue is that anyone who would do that really is not a fit parent. Agreed. I was wondering how this rises to the level of a crime. PENAL CODE 273a: “Any person who willfully causes or permits any child to suffer, or who inflicts thereon unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, and whoever, having the care or custody of any child, causes or permits the life or limb of such child to be endangered, or the health of such child to be injured, and any person who willfully causes or permits such child to be placed in such situation that its life or limb may be endangered, or its health likely to be injured, is guilty of a misdemeanor.” THE COURT: Must a parent never leave a young child alone in the house on risk of being adjudged guilty of manslaughter if some unforeseeable occurrence causes the death of the child? The only reasonable view of the evidence is that the death of Carlos was the result of misadventure and not the natural and probable result of a criminally negligent act. There was no evidence from which it can be inferred that defendant realized her conduct would in all probability produce death. There was no evidence as to the cause of the fire, as to how or where it started. There was no evidence connecting defendant in any way with the fire. There was no evidence that defendant could reasonably have foreseen there was a probability that fire would ignite in the house and that Carlos would be burned to death. The most that can be said is that defendant may have been negligent; but mere negligence is not sufficient to authorize a conviction of involuntary manslaughter. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/16 "2010-04-16T18:57:48Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Children are a 24/7 job. It is exhausting and unrelenting work. Deal with it. If you are a parent, and you want some grown-up time without your kids, there are these people called babysitters. They come to your house and watch your kids while you go out. Someone who is related to you or the kids might even be willing to do this for free. That’s what you do if you need to go somewhere and can’t take the kids with you. I don’t think I would like to sit in a 55-degree car for 2.5 hours if I were wearing a sleeveless outfit and had a blanket. I think I’d get cold. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/17 "2010-04-16T19:00:23Z")
[Responding to **Bearflag70**] I think part of your confusion may be because the Court you quote is talking about what appears to be a charge of involuntary manslaughter ( a felony), which requires a different kind of proof than that necessary for child endangerment. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/18 "2010-04-16T19:01:16Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I don’t think I would like to sit in a 55-degree car for 2.5 hours if I were wearing a sleeveless outfit and had a blanket. I think I’d get cold. Also agreed, but I wouldn’t think the risk of a “chilly” infant would be enough to be criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/19 "2010-04-16T19:08:16Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Also agreed, but I wouldn’t think the risk of a “chilly” infant would be enough to be criminal. But if I knew I was getting beyond just chilly and into danger, I could do something about it. An infant couldn’t recognize that danger or do anything about it. I’m also quite a bit more massive than the baby. A baby would lose heat a lot faster than I would, and so would be in greater danger of hypothermia. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369/20 "2010-04-16T19:09:15Z")
But where Anne Neville would be a bit chilly and able to do something about it, and infant cannot. And as mentioned upthread, babies have _no_ thermal integrity. Most of your body heat comes from your muscle mass, and babies just don’t have a lot of muscle yet. That’s why you nearly always see babies with hats and socks, even when the weather’s nice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/understanding-child-endangerment-baby-left-alone-in-car/536369.md?page=2)