Mom Makes Joke About Selling Son For $12, Gets Investigated By CPS

A proud mother found herself under investigation for human trafficking for joking about her three-year-old son on Twitter.

“This time last week, I was the subject of a human-trafficking investigation,” Magnolia State Live writer Alex McDaniel wrote in October.

“The saga began when a caseworker and supervisor from Child Protection Services (CPS) dropped by my office with a Lafayette County sheriff’s deputy,” she wrote.

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The two told the writer she was under investigation because someone called CPS and reported a Tweet.

McDaniel had written, “3-year-old for sale. $12 or best offer.” The Tweet was a gag based on something McDaniel’s son had said.

“That tweet was what the caller used as evidence that I was a threat to the well-being of my child,” McDaniel wrote. “And it was that tweet that sparked the most hellish week of my life as I prepared for a home visit in which my case worker would inspect my home and the possibility of more interviews with my son.”

“All because enough people believed I was actually trying to sell my son on Twitter for $12,” McDaniel wrote.

Fortunately, McDaniel was able to hire an attorney, who got the case dismissed.

McDaniel thinks the tip was made by someone who does not like her columns. Unfortunately, the informant can never be held accountable because tips to CPS are kept confidential in Mississippi.

“What upsets me more is the idea of anyone using an agency designed to protect Mississippi’s most vulnerable children as a weapon to take someone down for no legitimate reason, McDaniel wrote.

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EXCLUSIVE: Mom Thrown to the Ground, Tasered by Cops While Holding Her 3yo Son

For asking if her fiance was okay during a traffic stop, a mother was attacked by police, thrown to the ground and tasered—as she held her son.

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Mom Changed Kid’s Dentist. She Was Reported To Child Services.

Image source: Pixabay.com

A mother was reported to a social services agency for neglect because she switched dentists.

When Melissa Lopez sought a second opinion about her daughter’s teeth, she found herself reported for “oral neglect.”

“For someone to turn around and try to accuse me of neglecting her, it’s absurd,” the Canadian mom told the CBC. “I couldn’t believe it.”

The trouble began when a dentist told Lopez that her daughter Elianna had nine cavities and required thousands of dollars’ worth of dental work. Not confident in the diagnosis, Lopez decided to seek a second opinion from another dentist. The other dentist found that Elianna required a lot less dental work, so Lopez went there.

Reported by the Dentist

Lopez forgot to notify the first dentist of the change, so that dentist notified the Children’s Aid Society (CAS). The Children’s Aid Society is the name for child protective services in Ontario, where Lopez lives.

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The CAS called Lopez in June and told her that she was being investigated for oral neglect. The matter was quickly resolved when Lopez provided the agency with proof of dental work, but there’s now a permanent file on the matter.

“It will always be there, 10, 15, 20 years from now,” Lopez said of the file. “I’m red-flagged, I’ve been marked, and there’s no reason for this to have happened.”

The dentist who reported Lopez was obeying the law. Ontario’s Child and Family Services Act requires all healthcare professionals to report suspicions of abuse and neglect to the CAS, said Kevin Marsh, the director of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario.

“Health-care professionals and other people who work closely with children have a special responsibility under the act,” Marsh told CBC.

That means little to Lopez, though. She believes she did nothing wrong.

“I would absolutely love it if they would just remove that file for me, because I don’t feel there was any just reason to report me in the first place,” Lopez said.

She never received a letter from the first dentist with a warning.

“As a mother, you pride yourself on how you raise your kids. I have three kids — they’re healthy, they’re happy, they do great in school, they have lots of friends,” Lopez said.

“For someone to turn around and try to accuse me of neglecting her, it’s absurd.”

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10-Year-Old Shopped Alone At Lego Store. So Police Arrested His Mom.

A mother was arrested and charged Sunday for letting her 10-year-old son shop alone at a toy store.

Jia Fan was charged with child endangerment for leaving her son alone at the Lego Store in the Eastview Mall in Victor, N.Y., AP reported. She went off to shop and came back to be arrested by Ontario County Sheriff’s deputies.

Child endangerment is a Class A misdemeanor in New York State. Persons charged with it can be sentenced to up to one year in jail, up to three years of probation and a fine of up to $1,000.

Free-Range Kids advocate Lenore Skenazy wrote about the incident at Reason.com.

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“Ah yes, that poor, endangered kid, surrounded by small pieces of plastic,” she wrote.

But it’s not the first controversial arrest, Skenazy added.

In 2015, an 11-year-old boy was arrested for actually shopping at the Lego Store in the Chinook Mall in Calgary, she wrote.

The boy’s father, Doug Dunlop, wrote the company:

Dear Lego,

Today, our son went to the Lego store in Chinook Mall, Calgary, Alberta. He had over $200 and was intending to purchase some Lego with it….

Imagine my surprise when I entered the store and found that the manager had called a security guard to detain my son….

I spoke to the security guard who told me that the Lego store required a parent to be with any child 12 or under. He stated that it was Lego store policy and that he was just enforcing it.

I then followed the guard to the manager, and asked him why he would call security on my son. He stated that for safety reasons, no child under 12 could be left unattended in the store.”

Doug Dunlop.

Readers who commented at Reason were split on the news stories, believing that private stores have the right to limit the age of kids who can be left alone but wondering why police should be involved.

“Don’t blame LEGO,” one person wrote. “This is almost certainly to protect themselves against liability. Somewhere along the line, there are an attorney’s fingerprints on this.”

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Single Mother Of 6 Sells Food On Facebook … And Now Faces 1 Year In Jail

Image source: Mariza Ruelas

STOCKTON, Calif. — A single mother could be jailed for up to a year because she shared homemade meals through a Facebook food group.

Mariza Ruelas of Stockton was charged after a year-long investigation by county inspectors that ended with an undercover sting operation.

“It was just unreal that they were saying you could face up to a year in jail,” Reulas, a mother of six, told Fox 40 in Sacramento.

Reulas and others in the Stockton, California-area had been trading food, organizing potlucks and sharing recipes on the 209 Food Spot Facebook page for several years. Not all of the exchanges involved money, but some did.

“Somebody would be like, ‘Oh I don’t have anything to trade you but I would love to buy a plate,’” Reulas said.

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Members of the 209 Food Spot page did not realize that San Joaquin County health inspectors were monitoring their activity.

In October 2015, an undercover investigator ordered a ceviche – a seafood dish — from Reulas. A few months later the mother of six received a summons for selling food and engaging in business without a permit – each a misdemeanor. The district attorney offered Reulas a plea deal that included three years of probation, a $235 fine and 80 hours of community service. She refused, saying she could not afford the fine and that she had only sold items once or twice a month. In fact, she and her children even cooked food for the homeless.

“The purpose wasn’t to sell food,” Ruelas told The Washington Post. “We wanted to bring something positive to our community.”

“They took the time to be investigating for over a year now. But they can’t solve all these unsolved murders?”

She “didn’t see any harm” in what she was doing.

“There wasn’t anybody selling it daily,” she said. “A lot of times, they were just getting back what they put into the ingredients.”

Reulas was not the only member of the food group to be charged, but the others accepted the plea.

Stockton has been dealing with a rise in violent crimes, including murders and robberies, over the past year, The Stockton Record reported.

San Joaquin County deputy district attorney Kelly McDaniel defended the investigation, saying the Facebook group was putting the public at danger and undercutting legal businesses, Fox 40 reported.

“I don’t write the laws, I enforce them. And the legislature has felt that this is a crime,” McDaniel said.

Ruelas, though, said it was not about making money.

“People are assuming that I was taking from other businesses,” Ruelas told The Washington Post. “It’s not something that I was trying to make a business out of.”

Reulas is worried about what will happen to her children if she goes to jail. She said her 17-year-old daughter, Mariyah, doesn’t like to hear her talk to reporters or attorneys. Her other children, including 6-year-old Justice, are also scared.

“He always asks … ‘Are you going to come back?’” Reulas said.

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