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FaerieDreamer
10-05-2006, 12:38 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/04/baby.sitter.mixup.ap/index.html

LONG BEACH, California (AP) -- A baby sitter bungled her first day on the job by picking up the wrong 5-year-old boy from his elementary school, police said.

Angel Guerrero was taken by mistake Monday when the woman arrived at the school and took him without knowing what the child she was to care for looked like, Sgt. David Cannan said.

The mix-up caused alarm when Angel's grandmother came to the school and was told someone had already picked him up. Police issued a missing child alert, and his name and picture were broadcast on several TV stations. (Watch how baby sitter's first day on job goes bad -- 1:12)

Meanwhile, the baby sitter had no idea she picked up the wrong child until her employers returned home.

"The baby sitter said 'This is your son,' and the parents said, 'No, this is not our son,"' Cannan said. When the parents saw Angel's picture on their TV screen, they immediately called police.

School officials didn't notice the mix-up, Cannan said, because Angel willingly left with the woman. Meanwhile, the boy she was supposed to pick up waited for several hours until school staff called an uncle to pick him up.

"There's a lesson here," Cannan said. "What an opportunity to tell parents to talk to their kids, and communicate with their caregivers. This young child was full of trust, and he sees an older, caring adult and just walked off with that person."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.




Sweet Jesus. This is seriously my biggest fear. I know my son is still a year and a half away from kindergarten, but I still think about it all the time. We will probably have to have a sitter or his daycare pick him up from school and my biggest fear is that he will either not know where to go or who to go with.

Those poor little boys must have been terrified.

ej
10-05-2006, 01:34 PM
I can't believe that the daycare let him go with someone they didn't know. Around here, daycares won't let the kid go, even if (s)he's willing -- you have to be pre-authorized by the parent if you're expecting to be able to take a kid out of there.

bear
10-05-2006, 01:42 PM
^ Exactly! And I love how in one breath the Sgt says School officials didn't notice the mix up and in the next that it is a great opportunity to teach your children not to go with strangers. No doubt you should talk to your children but this child was in no way at fault.

The school should be held accountable for botching that one. If that were my kid I'd be livid. Our school and child care facilities have very stringent guidelines and procedures on who can pick up your child.

Not to mention how in the world could any parent hire a babysitter and not have that sitter SEE and MEET the child first???

Whoa! Just whoa!

FaerieDreamer
10-05-2006, 01:51 PM
Yeah I did find it appalling that the babysitter didn't know what the poor child looked like. Why would she not ask the teacher either, which one was so and so?

And that is true about needing to be authorized to pick up a child, our daycare has a very strict policy on that, and I'm sure elementary schools would have the same.

It is still such a sad and scary situation.

entropy
10-05-2006, 02:25 PM
i've picked up my friend's children from daycare and school. Each time, i had to present ID which was compared to child's "safe list".

ej
10-05-2006, 02:28 PM
No kidding. If that happened where my kids were in care, they'd be in the daycare down the street the next day.

Fray
10-05-2006, 03:47 PM
I can't believe the daycare are being cleared of blame.

When the reception (4-5 yr-olds) class are picked up at work, the kids stay at the back of the classroom away from the door until we see a parent and call them forward. Anyone could stand there and say "That one's the kid I have to pick up".

FaerieDreamer
10-05-2006, 04:17 PM
I'm trying to remember what it was like when I was going to elementary. We lived less than a block from school so I walked home most of the time. But I do remember when my mom or grandpa would pick me up, we'd all have to go out to the lot and just wait for whoever. There was maybe one teacher out there to monitor things.

Perhaps that's what happened in this situation? I'm just trying to make sense of it. I keep reading this article and wondering how on earth this could happen.