Some parents make way too many excuses for their kids
 

check out the mom of the one girl complaining that they handcuffed her daugther that helped to put an innocent guy in jail. If I had done that at her age my mother would have put the cuffs on me herself :

Young Accusers Arrested, Led From School in Cuffs

Three Orange County girls who sent a homeless man to jail for eight months after telling police and prosecutors he had attacked them at a park were arrested Monday at school and taken away in handcuffs for making up the story.

The 12-year-old girls were booked on suspicion of conspiracy and taken to Juvenile Hall until a court hearing Wednesday.

"They handcuffed her, with her arms behind her back. She was scared and started shaking," said Veronica Mendez Ochoa, the mother of one of two girls arrested at James Irvine Intermediate School in Garden Grove. "She's a little girl, but they handcuffed her like she was a murderer."

The schoolyard arrests marked another twist in a case that rekindles debate over how severely authorities should punish children.

Last spring, the three girls allegedly concocted a story so their parents would not punish them for coming home late from school: A homeless man lying near a bush motioned them over and then grabbed one of them. The girl managed to escape only after her friend bravely fought off the assailant.

The girl took the witness stand last month, testifying that Eric Nordmark, a 36-year-old drifter, "started choking me. And then I turned purple ? I couldn't breathe, and I felt like I was going to black out."

Nordmark, who police said generally matched the description given by the girls, had spent eight months in jail awaiting trial. He could have faced five years in prison if convicted in the attack.

After her tearful testimony, however, the girl confessed to her mother that the story was not true. In addition to a felony charge of conspiracy, the girl who testified also faces a charge of perjury.

"Everybody was duped by these girls," Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Heather Brown said at the time. She later asked for all charges against Nordmark to be dismissed.

Authorities said the arrest of the girls was intended to send a message about the consequences of lying to police.

"They did something very serious," said Garden Grove Police Lt. Mike Handfield. "They put [an innocent] guy in jail for eight months."

An attorney for one of the girls said Monday that police could have asked the parents to bring their children to the police station, rather than make a show of their arrest on campus.

"This alleged crime is not a violent crime," said Shirley MacDonald Juarez, the attorney. "These girls have been totally cooperative with police. There was no need for this."

Mendez, the girl's mother, said police did not allow her daughter, who is diabetic, to bring along her medical kit containing insulin and syringes. When she called police to complain, Mendez said, "they didn't care. They told me she was being interrogated by an investigator without a lawyer present."

Handfield said the girl was read her Miranda rights but did not ask to have her attorney or a parent present during questioning. He added that police were finished questioning the girl by the time Juarez, her attorney, called the station to invoke the girl's right to remain silent.

Mendez said her daughter was returning to school Monday after spending five days at Children's Hospital of Orange County for treatment of her diabetes.

Curtis Lavarello, executive director of the National Assn. of School Resources Officers, said handcuffing students is generally considered appropriate if they are a flight risk, or if they were armed.

"It sounds like this was uncommon," Lavarello said. "I'm not sure [police] weren't doing more harm than good."

The girls live in an apartment complex in a neighborhood off of Euclid Street, made up mostly of blue-collar families.

The building stands in the shadow of the Garden Grove Freeway. Traffic rumbles by day and night.

Garden Grove police were called to the apartment May 16. At the time, the three girls were students at Woodbury Elementary School; two of them were age 11, and one was 12. They told a detailed story, police said, describing their assailant as a white man, about 6 feet tall, weighing 190 to 200 pounds and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and white sneakers.

Two brothers, ages 10 and 12, who also lived at the complex, had reported being harassed by a homeless man two days earlier. Police said their description of the man was similar to the one given by the girls.

Handfield said police at the time feared there was a sexual predator in the neighborhood.

Nordmark had been arrested earlier that week for public drunkenness. Police created a photo lineup consisting of Nordmark and five other men.

The first girl picked him out, and, police allege, coached her friends to also identify Nordmark as the man who had attacked them in the park.

The two brothers also identified Nordmark, and police arrested him May 20. After declaring his innocence, Nordmark said, he spent his months in jail doing crossword puzzles and playing chess with other inmates.

"It is scary how powerless you are when you are faced with something like this," the North Dakota native said in an interview last month.

He has filed a claim against the Garden Grove Police Department for botching the investigation.

Nordmark's attorney, David Swanson, said the department could have uncovered the lie had it been more careful.

He said, for example, that the department should have shuffled the order of the photo lineup so that the first girl would not have been able to coach her friends.

Defending his department's practices, Handfield said last month that it was difficult to imagine veteran detectives and prosecutors being fooled by three young girls.

story....

stupid kids should spend 8 months in a fucking juvie hall

Gotta wonder where they learned to lie like that. So much bad parenting out there.

Only if the government would turn a blind eye and some much needed ass-whooping took place, would fear and respect be put back into the households...Bring back the damn switch...kids these days have nothing to fear dammit :feels-hot

I think they should get double the time he spent there

those little brats deserve to be handcuffed and put in Juvenile Detention.

little bitches

Kids do stupid things. This was bad, but the "authorities" are making it worse. If anything, they should be ordered to a year of community service in homeless shelters.

Don't damn people; especially kids; for making mistakes. We were all kids once and still make mistakes.

No that's where you are wrong.

This was not just a mistake, this was a crime and has to be treated as such.

This homeless man regardless of whether he was convicted or not will always have to answer yes from here on out if he's ever been arrrested for a felony. In most cases they're not interested in convictions only arrests. This man is scarred for life.

Not only that, his incarceration especially for attacking a young girl could have led to his death in prison due to the fact that they don't take to well to rapists and molesters.

These girls also just made it even more harder for true victims of rape and molestation to be heard or believed.

There is already a lingering doubt in a lot of rape cases...sheesh look at some of the comments on this board about that poor girl abducted and killed last week...these girls only made things worse.

This should serve as a severe warning for anyone who might consider filing false charges against someone...I honestly believe that the punishment for the crime should match that of what they accused the person of doing.

If they falsely accuse them of rape and it's a 7 year sentence...then let them serve that sentence.

My old man would have beat my ass something fierce if I tried pulling something like that. In fact, I would have rather been sent away than go home to him.

It makes you wonder what kind of parents these little girls have if they felt they had to make up lies like that to avoid being punished for being late.

I think the major thing most people miss, and its truly a shame, is everyone's concentrating on the girls. Stop and think about the innocent man, just for a sec, then tell me they should just have to do a year of community service in homeless shelters.

If 3 12 year old girls cause you to have to go to jail for 8 months for no reason whatsoever... would you just say "oh they made a simple mistake?"

I wouldn't.

a stupid mistake it the young kid the takes a bit of candy from a store or leaves their bike out in the rain.

This is them taking the deliberate decision to accuse someone of a very serious crime. If you don't seriously punish that what do you seriously punish?

They have ruined this man's life and made it even worse than it already had been. Would it still have been merely a stupid mistake had he been killed in jail?

They are 11 and 12. They do not consider the weight of their words, and had no idea how far that would go. I'm not saying not to punish them. I'm saying that jail is not the answer, and may actually make things worse. As is, they are just kids who wanted to get out of whipping or grounding, if they are to be jailed in juvenile or otherwise, they will only become jaded and learn worse things from those who do truly mean, spiteful or illegal things. Look at this man, he was homeless. You honestly think his life was ruined? Don't you think he was greatful for the 8 months of free food and shelter he got as a result? Now he will probably litigate, making him so much better off.

did you really just say he should be greatful they put him in jail where he could have been killed by the inmates for something he didn't do?

LOL yep she did

They kept a bum off the streets for 8 months. God only knows how many crimes were prevented.

uh huh

On the plus side of this story however...

We are all going to be paying higher taxes thanks to these three asshat children...

This bum is going to become a zillionaire overnight thanks to those kids bet he wished it had happened sooner :thumbsup

The parents should have to pay restitution to this man, but I'm sure he'll be suing them in court anyway.

This could also make for a nice movie plot.

stupid logic

Parents let their kid surf aimlessly online and let the virtual babysiter aka the World Wide Web , take control of their minds. Parents in today's society are so out of touch with their childrens needs and wants.
Some concerned parents by spector or keyblasters from me , but most dont care about their kids it seems like.:BangBang:

Yea, that was on the news 2 nights ago. It's fucked up, that is just like 15 mile away from me. I remember when the story first hit the news!

I'm glad that they went to the school and arrested him. I don't give a shit what the fucknut parents think, what they did is fucking serious. They've fucked that guys life up if you asked me, and what if he was convicted? He would have to register as a sexual convict everywhere he moved too!

I hope they learned a lesson about this, and I hope they fucking pay for it! Hell give them more than 8 months in Juvie! Except I did hear that the girl that confessed that it was a fake story is gonna get off easier than the other two! But the guy has moved back to Washington state!

jDoG

You are exactly right and you said it before I got to it! That was what me and my roomates where discussing after hearing the news a few nights ago!

I totally agree with you for making them serve the sentence of what he would've served!

jDoG

So you think it is alright for them to put a innocent man behind bars? They just fucked up his WHOLE life, he has to registered as being arrest for a felony everywhere now!

You're saying that you wouldn't have any problem what so ever if you were put falsely accused of attempting to rape a boy/girl?

jDoG

Ummm..no, that is not what I am saying at all, or I would have said that. His whole life is not ruined and his record, now that the truth is out will likely be expunged. He doesn;t have to register anything, anywhere. I also do not recall reading he was accused of attempted rape, so what does that have to do with anything? Again, the truth has come to light, the guy (HOMELESS by the way) will go on with his life without any permanent damage. The kids should get community service in a homeless shelter and maybe spend a few days behind bars to learn the error of their ways. I see no reason to go beyond that. Perhaps if the circumstances were different, I would feel differently.

indeed