Boro Park: Woman Kidnapped Two Children On Shabbos Afternoon

Soul on fire

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 9:58 am

I don't know anything about the story but some children are very trusting. And if they were from other countries they may not be instilled with the fears that we put on our children here. I am glad to read this ended well no matter who the woman is and what really happened. BH the children are safe.

Mommy3.5

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 9:58 am

You don't think that having kids in an enclosed backyard is safe, espeacially with a 12 year old there too? Where you can check out the back door every few minutes, who on earth would think that that might be an issue? We might have what do say if they were running in the streets unsupervised, but not in a closed in yard with older kids, who reported it right away. Shame on you for being so judgemental.

Soul on fire

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 10:11 am

I am not opposed to kids playing in their own backyards but I don't think you should be shaming the people who have voiced concern over these kids being unsupervised. They kids WERE actually kidnapped, so I would say their concerns are valid. Confused

33055

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 11:00 am

Mommy3.5 wrote:

I didn't see anything about them being watched by a 12 year old. I don't know how many children there were. They were not adequately supervised. 12 years old is old enough to tell a stranger to take their hands off a child. My 12 year old would certainly not let a child leave with a stranger unchallenged. Where was the out cry?

I never let my children play unsupervised when they were young. I am appalled how many young children there are out playing outside without any sort of supervision. I was driving home Friday and I found it shocking and mentioned to my husband. I see groups of children as young as 2 and 3 without adults nearby. Every Friday I see the buses dropping off young kids without anyone meeting them.

The intent of my post is not to shame anyone but to inform people these practices of letting children play without supervision are not safe.

myself

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 4:31 pm

Squishy wrote:

Personally I don't get something else, if they were supposedly in their own backyard wouldn't it be completely inaccesable to outsiders?

seeker

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 4:37 pm

I don't know about the situation in question but I was recently driving through an ultra orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn and observed the same disturbing phenomenon. At one corner I saw what appeared to be a pair of girls about 6 and 7ish and another pair of girls about 3 and 2 (or maybe under 2) all in matching outfits so presumably together. No adult in sight. I assume the 'older' ones were in charge but they were (naturally) busy playing with each other, half the time their backs were to the toddlers and the distance between them spreading, the 2-ish one kept pushing a doll stroller not far from the curb.... I rolled down my window to get a better look around, no adult anywhere. I wanted to say something, find the mom or something, but I was alone with my own kids and the light had changed and cars were beeping behind me already... But my conscience is bothering me. Not the first time either. I think maybe I should pre-write notes with a pointed message for the parents for the next time this happens, keep it in the car. There always seems to be a next time...

ra_mom

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 5:32 pm

myself wrote:

Personally I don't get something else, if they were supposedly in their own backyard wouldn't it be completely inaccesable to outsiders?

Most BP backyards are part of the driveway which is visible and accessible from the front of the house.

smilingmom

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 5:48 pm

The point of this incident is not whether the kids were supervised, because presumably if a stranger would try to take a four year old away from their setting, even if they were not supervised, they would not go without screaming or crying. Ergo, I assume they knew the 'kidnapper'.
Secondly, there are some mature twelve year olds that can be responsible for watching younger children. From what I read, the older child immediately reported the incident to the family.
I would not infer from this story that the children Boro park are at any greater risk than they were before this incident, but I am always aghast at the lack of supervision of kids in the hood.

ra_mom

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 6:39 pm

chipmunk wrote:

if this was a kidnapping why wasn't she charged with kidnapping? she got charged with trespassing and endangering the welfare of a child... something is very off with this story...

Where did you see the charges? Can you link?

33055

Sun, Apr 27 2014, 9:26 pm

octopus wrote:

maybe the woman was a shabbos guest in the house, and then walked off with one of the kids.

It doesn't sound like she was a Shabbos guest. She was charged with trespassing. It sounds like she was mentally ill.

The "backyard" was on a corner house.

motherof7girls

Tue, Apr 29 2014, 8:22 pm

I'm actually writing as a relative to one of the children. There was no family fight. The backyard wasnt totally enclosed as there is a narrow path to the backyard from the street. The backyard, which has a swingset, is shared by two or three families. This Israeli women wandered into the backyard and began pushing the kids on the swing. The mothers of the 4 year olds are not American, and were staying at Bubbys house for Pesach. The mother WAS supervising her children going in and out and also watching them from the back window. She actually saw this women, but being a foreigner, she assumed she was a guest or a babysitter belonging to the other family who shares the backyard. The other family asked this women who she was, and this women said she was a babysitter. They therefore thought that Bubby hired a babysitter to help with the children. The mother went downstairs to get the children that she had just seen from the window. But by the time she got down to the backyard, the children werent there.
I dont know why some frum Jewish women would violate halachos of lashon hara and rechilus and make up family fights that never happened. This family is a wonderful family and they are all very close. I guess some people are bored or perhaps they live such miserable lives with fights that they just assume other people have them too.