Innocent Bath-Time Photos Get Kids Taken Away From Parents
Today's moment-of-pause has been brought to you by Wal-Mart and the city of Peoria, Az. Apparently, some photo-clerk vigilante, diligently on the lookout for child pornography, saw photos of kids during bath time and decided to call the cops, according to a story on Good Morning America.
Next thing the parents of these kids knew, the children were removed from their home. For an entire month. Mom got suspended from her job for a year and both -- Anthony and Lisa Demaree -- were added to a list of sex offenders. The judge in the case said the pix were harmless.
"I don't understand it at all," Anthony Demaree told GMA, with his wife by his side. "Ninety, 95 percent of the families out there in America have these exact same photos."
Now they've got another shot to take. This time it's directed at Wal-Mart and their hometown.
Do you think the clerk and the police did the right thing?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 118)
Lisa 9-21-2009 @ 6:57PM
Oh my GOD!!!! Those stupid idiots doing that to those parents!!! What the hell?? Talk about paranoia! Yeah, the damage was done, not only to the parents but to those little girls! Those poor kids...I hope they get through this.
Reply
laws 9-21-2009 @ 8:18PM
They over reacted. Police shoold have used better judgement. I understand we want to protect all children but there is also a thing that we have seem to have forgotten called common sense
sxg40oz 9-21-2009 @ 8:26PM
As much as I think it is stupid as hell that things like this happen I am glad that a story finally made headlines on idiot sex offender charges. Things like this happen all the time and people never get out of it than get hung out like they are a person that kidnaps and rapes a child like they are even remotely close to same thing.
This is why our sex offender laws need a close look at, and why there are so many out there.
PeterP 9-21-2009 @ 8:21PM
I feel so sad for this family, especially the children. Can you just imagine what those children went through for that month? The parents too. All for such an innocent thing. The WalMart employee should be fired. WalMart should be sued and fined BIG TIME! and whoever decided that the children should be removed from the home should be removed from that position of authority. Obviously they have no clue as to who the real criminals are.
Debbie 9-21-2009 @ 8:26PM
I guess I won't take any more photos to WalMart for printing. I can't tell you the countless pictures I have taken of my son in the tub. Never anything below the waist, but regardless, we have all taken them! Parents, let's all boycott WalMart Photo Department!
Kayla 9-21-2009 @ 8:26PM
Yeah, no kidding. Just because the parents wanted to capture moments in their childrens' lives. I had plenty of pictures of me taken growing up just like those that were taken by the parents of those girls. People take things to the extreme now-a-days. Why can't things just be like it was when we were growing up? Now you can't even take a cute picture of a kid without it being a big deal in one way or another.
sable32 9-21-2009 @ 8:31PM
I have innocent bathtime pics myself. When my daughter recently was not afraid to take a bath in the big tub, I took pics of her playing. Innocent pics are ok. I would sue Wal-Mart.
David 9-28-2009 @ 6:54PM
Has america become this retarted? No way should that have ever happened. The walmart clerk needs to be put in a loony bin along with child service. Is it that hard to look somone in the face and say no. Your wrong.
Mary Hopkins 9-21-2009 @ 8:35PM
OMG! I guess I should have been in jail a long time ago when I took nude pictures of my son as a infant and pictures of him in the bath or using the potty for the first time. Jeeeeezzzzz. Those parents need to be compensated and should have no-I mean no-sex offender stuff attached to their names. The person at Wal-Mart should know better and so should the police. What is happening to people?
Abel De La Ossa 9-21-2009 @ 8:33PM
The clerk needs to be sent back to wally-world university to be re-trained, then her salary needs be garnished for the next 100 generations to repay what Wal-Mart will be losing in the lawsuit and the Peoria Police Department needs to have next decades city funding sued away from them for such a blatant display of unprofessional behavior and for following through with such an abusive and malicious attack on an innocent family. Money will never repair the damage inflicted upon them, especially the children whom sustained the worst of them all-people often forget the backbone of Arizona law regarding children "for the better of the children" and for "the better interest of the child" give that cop some permanent time off! AD in Yuma, Az
Cathy 9-21-2009 @ 10:05PM
good gracious! my parents have a ton of pics of me as a baby and toddler in the bath and at bath time. it's a part of the memories growing up and there is nothing wrong with the photos those parents took!
Vickie 9-21-2009 @ 8:42PM
This was handled soo wrong! The girls should have been examined and had a visit w/a psych then it could have been determined that they were just fine and the parents were normal and the pics were normal (I have one of myself @ 6 months old-should I call my mother from the grave and have her accused of child porn?) That's how stupid this whole situation is!! I believe this family should receive plenty of $ to cover the mother's wages for 2 years and $ to start college funds and some extra to boot! Walmart should not have that kind of control over anyone's lives nor should any developer, at least not to this extent. I applaud people for being diligent in watching for these kinds of things, I wish more would, but...
joseph La Point 9-21-2009 @ 8:42PM
I can understand why wal-mart employees would do this. Wal-Mart doesn't hire brain surgeons. The police must be rejects from wal-mart work force
wwjht3700h 9-21-2009 @ 8:48PM
I agree, they are too quick to jump on parents that are not guilty but fail to do anything about the ones that actually harm their children or the children in their care (for money) I am not speaking from experience (no kids) just from things I see or hear about from others. ww
JeffHasBraces 9-21-2009 @ 10:47PM
Can u imagine some minimum wage worker developing pics who is probably a shift supervisor of that area and on a power trip makes a call and this happens. I hope the family sues the worker, Walmart AND Peoria! Hopefully the get millions and the kids can all go too Harvard.Unless the pics where obviously kiddy porn this person made a mountain out of a molehill. Someone says Child Pornography and people act before thinking rationally. Kids in a tub or kids with dirty diapers are not kiddie porn....my god... My mom has pics of my little sister and me nude in the tub together. Good thing someone with a brain developed these pics. I worked at a Pharmacy a while back and developed thousands of pics. After a while you look at the pic to see the quality of the developing. I never payed attention to what was in the pic, too busy and I could care less
LEE 9-21-2009 @ 10:10PM
SO DOES THE WALMART EMPLOYEE BATH THIER KIDS WITH
THIER CLOTHES ON? I HOPE THE STATE AND WAL MART PAY FOR THIER STUPIDITY A MILLION TIMES OVER.
Norm 9-21-2009 @ 8:54PM
This is the most redidculous article I have ever read and that I hope they sue the shit out of the prosecutor who brought the charges another reason why DCF and local agencies who hire incompetent people should never have the powers that have been granted for parents who abuse there children and for Walmart just another reason not to shop there...My parents and family have hundreds of those type of pictures of me and my brother growing up, lesson here keep your private photos out of the hands of idiots like the one's I listed above. And I hope those involved loose there jobs and there hard earn money from law enforcement to the courts and DCF workers Just idiots all of them.
DAWN 9-21-2009 @ 8:55PM
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE IN THE WORLD THESE DAYS. THIS IS WHY WHEN MY CHILDREN TURNED 5 THEIR DAD WOULD NOT BATH THEM OR GIVE THEN KISSES ANY MORE. THEY REALLY MISSED OUT . IT IS SAD THAT YOU CAN NOT EVEN GIVE YOUR CHILDREN A BATH WITH OUT PEOPLE THINKING THAT YOU ARE DOING SOME THING TO THEM .
michele 9-22-2009 @ 7:54AM
OMG never will I take my precious bathtime photos with suds and yellow duckies to walmart. loser.
sunny 9-21-2009 @ 9:55PM
Does anyone remember all of the baby pictures that were taken on a bear rug, in the tub, on a blanket, etc., etc., etc.? At 70 I have a baby picture of myself lying on my stomach completely nude as well as one of my husband in the same pose. That was in the late 1930's and I am sure that folks were a good bit more uptight about nudity back then. What the hell is wrong with people that they can't see the difference between a family photo and pornography?
Sex offender, NO! Parents, YES!