When Danielle and Alexander Meitiv decided to let their kids go to the park to play, they never expected that they would be facing arrest.
On December 20th, Danielle and Alexander sent their 10-year-old son, Rafi, and six-year-old daughter, Dvora, to a park to play in their town of Silver Spring, MD. The park was a mile away, but both Rafi and Dvora had been there before and knew exactly where they were going. That didn't stop a concerned neighbor from calling the police, however, and soon, officers pulled their cruisers next to the kids and asked them if they were alright. Even though the children told the officers they were fine and were allowed to go to the park by themselves, the officers escorted the children home and questioned their parents.
Child Protective Services were also called, and on February 20th, Danielle and Alexander were found "responsible for unsubstantiated child neglect." According to Today, this type of case "remains in the state’s database for five years and then is expunged — if no additional reports are added to the file."
Even though it's not a hefty charge, the Meitivs are fighting back. “I don’t want there to be a file," Danielle told Today. "We never should have been on their radar in the first place. We shouldn’t be in their system at all and certainly not with some allegation of neglect, whether substantiated or not.”
What do you think about this whole mess? It seems like 40 years ago, everyone was walking to the park alone, and now it's labeled as neglect!
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