This past Thursday, a 14-year-old girl was rescued from the woods in South Carolina, after her parents allegedly forced her out of the house.
Crystal Driggers, 36, and James Driggers, 33, of Sumter County, SC were arrested last week for child endangerment after they apparently sentenced their young daughter to the draconian punishment after she ate a Pop-Tart without permission. The couple, both of whom are bodybuilders, may have devised the penalty due to the intense dietary restrictions they follow for their lifestyle.
Whatever their own choices, it seems an unreasonable restriction to place on a child, especially considering what happened next. While shocking stories (like this incident of a caretaker abusing a toddler) do come up from time to time, this one stands apart from the others. The Driggers apparently sentenced their daughter to a week living in a tent in the woods. She was given a whistle, a flashlight, a single roll of toilet paper, and a watch. She was told that she would only receive food if she showed up at a specific time to a pre-determined meeting spot by a fence. The police found her on the second night of her punishment, enduring a bout of severe thunderstorms that affected the area. (Maybe she'll keep in touch with the offiers who saved her, like this little girl who was rescued by a firefighter.)
While her parents were undeniably harsh, her other relatives seem to have had a little bit more sympathy for the girl. Her brother seems to have brought a can of Spaghetti-O's to her tent, a quarter-mile from the family home. And the police wouldn't have found her at all if it weren't for a timely tip from her grandmother, who grew worried about the violent weather leading into the holiday weekend.
We're just happy that somebody was looking out for this poor girl! SHARE if you agree!
James Driggers (pictured above) told police that his daughter would return to the family home after his mother, the girl's grandmother, called the local sheriff's department. The next evening, police found her back out in the woods.
Crystal Driggers (above) is a freelance body-building coach, and may actually be the girl's step-mother. She allegedly told the Sheriff's deputies, “Now maybe we can get some help for her. Y’all wouldn’t help before.” She also makes references to "teen drama" on her Facebook page.
The wooded areas of Sumter County are known to be home to wild hogs, and were particularly dangerous going into the holiday weekend, when extreme thunderstorms were in the area.
While the punishment seems unreasonable to most people, it struck a disturbing chord with fellow bodybuilders. “Crystal Driggers and James Driggers. If we had more parents like these 2 the world would be a much better place,” wrote one woman on Facebook.
Please SHARE if you think this punishment is totally over the line.
