Child safety, common sense collide in Florida

Dominic Gainey, 7, rides his bicycle two miles to school every day, passing a fire station, community pool, library, church, public park and daycare along the way.

He wanted to go to the park the other day, but his bike had a flat tire, so his mom decided to let him walk the half mile to the playground. As usual, he carried a cell phone so he could check in with his mom.

As he was passing the pool, some well-meaning adults stopped him and asked several questions, including where his mother was.

Frightened by all the questions from strangers, he ran off to the park, and the adults called the police.

The police located the boy playing at the park, picked him up and asked him where he lived.

When they arrived, his mother, Nicole Gainey, was arrested in front of him, handcuffed, taken to the jail where she was physically searched, fingerprinted, photographed, held for seven hours and then forced to pay almost $4,000 to go home.

She now faces a third-degree criminal felony charge that carries a fine of up the $5,000 and five years in jail. Her family and friends were questioned, but Dominic was allowed to stay with her boyfriend in lieu of going into foster care.

Gainey told a local television station in Florida that she planned to fight the felony charges, but the station recently posted an update indicating that child welfare authorities had told her to expect the charges to be dropped.

The case and others like it have caught the attention of civil libertarians like John W. Whitehead of the Rutherford Institution to say "While we all want to ensure that our young people are safe and protected, the government cannot usurp a parent's right to determine what is appropriate for their children. Unless we put a stop to the 'government-knows-best' nanny state mind-set now, we may soon find that we have no rights whatsoever in a society that is increasingly bureaucratic, legalistics, politically correct, self-righteous and unconcerned about individual rights."

The police report indicated there are a number of sex offenders living in the vicinity, and the same media that carried Dominic's story carry many more stories about small children who have fallen victim to predators, abuse by relatives or died from neglect -- such as being left in hot cars during sweltering weather.

Once they get involved, we can't blame police and child welfare authorities for erring on the side of caution -- those same media outlets would be quick to carry criticism of their actions if they were judged to be inadequate and the outcome were tragic.

We also can't blame adults for questioning a young child they think is too small to be out on the street alone. In fact, they may be legally required to report such a situation.

But those of us who were raised in small towns or on farms remember roaming far from home at the same age as Dominic, or younger, and performing tasks involving dangerous livestock or farm equipment that would likely be considered child abuse these days.

Let's hope Dominic's mom learns a lesson from the incident and keeps her son under a little closer supervision in today's dangerous world. Let's hope authorities who have a final say in the matter let common sense and moderation dictate their decision.