44yr old mom takes 5yr old daughter tanning, gets herself arrested.

Of course I wouldn't profile excessive tanners. The young girl came in with a sunburn and stated she went tanning with her mother. In absence of the girl's statement I can't imagine coming to the same conclusion. My bad, I wasn't very clear on that.

I was not the teacher, I didn't hear the conversation, in what manner the girl happened to bring up the matter etc.. it is mere conjecture.

 

I wouldn't call it "profiling," but if I saw a woman that looked like that during the course of an investigation, I'd definitely hit up the background info.

If it looks like a freak, it's worth another look. Rumor has it that's what we pay law enforcement to do: look into suspicious shit.

 

I think the evidence in this case is flimsy as hell:
1.) Sunburns (and how burnt does the child look in the videos? Not at all, imo).
2.) A young child's statements (in my experience young children can be lead to say anything.)
3.) A mom who obviously likes tanning.

So this is their probable cause for arrest?

 

Chicago news had reports last night from when the mother lived in Cary IL, a suburb of Chicago. Neighbors interviewed said she was strange. She used to tan nude in her backyard. meh

In the video of her that I've seen most often it almost looks like she is in blackface. It does not look natural. Plus she looks 'greasy' I wonder if she applied make up so that she would look darker?

 

I thought exactly the same thing. I didn't see the news report but saw something online today to the same effect. She look disturbed, to be honest. I can't imagine anyone in their 40's willfully looking that way when they're not trying to make some sort of statement (i.e. punks, goths, etc.).

 

If anything comes out of this, I hope it is help for an addiction.

 

This is NJ, so it's different from FL. But in FL, when an allegation like this arises, Child Protective Services ("CPIS") is called in (principal usually contacts the police). CPIS is accompanied by a law enforcement officer to investigate. Based on their investigation, CPIS will either open a case, or dismiss it as unfounded, and Law Enforcement will do the same.

I have no idea how NJ works when it comes to schools and mandatory reporting, but here's the deal: with all due respect Baraka, if you focus on your post, it seems like a lot of it is directed to problems that Mom has. Mom might have a tanning problem. It doesn't necessarily follow that Mom is a child abuser who dragged the kid in to a tanning bed with her (initially i heard it was a stand-up tan machine, but I don't know).

And if the child was crispy enough to raise concerns about child abuse, I hope to see some pictures (but most childrens' cases are not a matter of public record, pictures should exist if the case is founded, though).

Probable Cause = Reliable Facts which would lead a reasonable person to conclude that criminal activity is afoot.

Known facts:
1.) Mom loves to tan.
2.) Child had sunburn.

A child's statement is not really "reliable" since I've lead kids involved in child abuse cases to say the darndest things.

So....Uber tan mom. Sun burn. Criminal activity afoot? I certainly don't think so. But reasonable minds can always disagree.

 

Its certainly reasonable that social services visit and check up on the child's safety.

But arresting this lady (and the media making fun of her) doesnt seem helpful.

Just look at her. As stated above, nobody would do that to themselves unless they are mentally ill or they are deliberately self harming (which is also a sign of needing help.)

We come down hard on cigarettes because they cause cancer... shouldn't we be taking the same kind of approach to tanning salons? Im not saying criminalise them, but tax it heavily and try to ease them out of existence. They can do no good to anyone, but only harm.

 

KirStang, you're ignoring the volunteered statement by the kid that she "went tanning with mom". That the kid said it isn't up for debate - the statement sparked the whole thing. The question is what was meant - she just accompanied mom to the salon or whether or not she got in the booth. And that's the question none of us can answer.

Let's assume for a second that the worst case has happened here - mom has been habitually taking the girl into the booth with her, disregarding the law. Does that constitute abuse? In my mind, yes, it's a willful disregard for the safety of her daughter. When the industry itself has rules regulating ages for the use of its product, that's willful disregard. Now maybe this was the first time and maybe it wasn't. Regardless, the statement the girl made implicated the mom in some way. Otherwise there wouldn't have been an arrest - unless of course you're going to maintain that the cop wasn't reasonable, which is an entirely different discussion and one I think is impossible to have at this point.

As far as a child's statement being reliable or not, I'd say it depends on the kid and the circumstance.

 

We're going to have to see if the child was actually in a tanning machine. The statement is ambiguous enough to mean she went to thw beach with mom.

 

I agree completely. The arrest makes me think that we're going to find out that she's been inside, but that's my guess and is no more or less valid than anyone else's. Except for Edward Palamar 's guess, obviously.

 

Why would the salon let her enter? I have no idea about NJ laws but in Oregon you have to be 18 or 16 with a parental sign off. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me but there's plenty in the world that fits that bill.

I do think if the police made an arrest there must be info not public yet or there will be heads rolling.
--- merged: May 3, 2012 at 6:25 PM ---

You might be surprised. Many folks retire down here, mostly 55+ and once here spend day in and day out soaking up the sun (and drinking daily.) Within a short time their skin looks like a leather bag, a dark leather bag. I know of at least 3 people who've contracted skin cancer in the last 2 yrs. Doesn't even phase the sun worship crowd. I had one lady tell me she does it for vitamin D. She's been here less then 18 months and looks like she's aged 8-10 years. Me I'm sticking to my pasty white skin and regular use of SPF 100.

 

I don't believe I have ever disagreed with anything you've posted, until now.

As far as I know she was not arrested as a means of determining whether or not she's a Tanorexic (God, I love that!)

Every one of your above statements suggests that, because she's voluntarily fucking up her appearance (which is not in dispute) is reason enough to suspect and arrest her. None of us have any information about the investigation or how it was conducted. None of knows whether or not her child's comment about going tanning with mommy means she went in the tanning salon with her or in the tanning room with her, or in the tanning bed/booth with her. None of us have a clue as to what the salon has had to say about this.

Without anything more to go on you seriously appear to condone at least her arrest, and from what I can gather it's because she's hideous looking, obviously crazy, and even if she's not guilty of the crime she's being accused of, she surely must be guilty of something. It's not supposed to work that way.