Parents sue WalMart & Arizona: (children removed from home after bath photos processed)

[Faryn Balyncd]

A Peoria couple is suing Walmart and the state after they were accused of sexual abuse for taking bathtime photos of their daughters, according to court papers.

Lisa and Anthony "A.J." Demaree's three young daughters were taken away by state Child Protective Services last fall when a Walmart employee found partially nude pictures of the girls on a camera memory stick taken to the store for processing, the lawsuit claims.

Walmart turned the photos over to police and the Demarees were not allowed to see their children for several days and did not regain custody for a month while the state investigated, according to their lawyer, Richard Treon.

Treon said the images in question were part of a group of 144 photographs taken mostly the family's vacation in San Diego. He said there were seven to eight bath- and playtime photos of the girls that showed a "portion or outline or genitalia."

At the time of the incident, the girls were 5, 4 and 1 1/2.

It was about "wanting to admire their (children's) beauty," Treon said. "There was nothing sexual about it."

Neither parent was charged with sexual abuse and they regained custody of their children, but the Demarees say the incident inflicted lasting harm.

In two separate lawsuits, the Demarees say the "slanderous claims" state officials made during the investigation caused them serious economic losses. They also claim to have since suffered "emotional stress, headaches, nightmares, a general feeling of malaise, shock to their nervous system, grief and depression."

"This is a parent's worst nightmare," Treon said. "This is a serious incursion on people's lives and privacy."

. . . . . . .


http://www.azcentral.com/community/peoria/articles/2009/09/17/20090917gl-peowalmart0917-ON.html

[virgogal]

1. A "deep pockets" lawsuit,so what else is new? The state is

the guilty party here.

[Travis_0004]

2. I don't see why they are suing walmart

It was up to the state to make a decision and I think they made the wrong one initally, but I don't get suing walmart. They thought the law was being broken, so they called the authorities.

Its like If you think there is a crime and you call 911, they can't sue you if you get arrested.

I'm guessing they just want some money, and walmart has deep pockets.



IMO there is no expectation of privacy when you give photos to a developer. Its pretty much understood that they will be looking at them as they come out if they are bored.

[Sukie]

3. There is a fine line, I know, where authorities have to make

sure that they protect children. But come on. How many of us have taken pictures of the kids while they were taking a bath? My kids are all in their twenties now and we have a few silly bathtime pictures of them when they were under ten that were nothing but harmless. They giggle at them now. sigh I don't normally condone lawsuits, but I hope they get something for their pain..........maybe enough for a family vacation to Disney Land. LOL

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. Maybe that's the point

I doubt those were the first ever photos of bathing children the photo developers have ever seen. I imagine it's a very orindary occurrance and yet the developers have not called the police each and every time.

Perhaps the question here is: what was in those photos that was so alarmingly extra-ordinary?

[-..__...]

4. I don't know why WalMart is being sued over this...

Oh wait a minute... now I know, it's because they have deep pockets.

Anyhow... I believe some states have laws that require photo developers to report any instance of suspected child pornography with little discretion to judge by.

[tammywammy]

5. Hopefully that part will get thrown out n/t

[Faryn Balyncd]

7. I think you're right.

[Tim01]

6. Maybe.

If my kids got taken away from me over something innocent I would probably want revenge on everybody involved.
I would be highly emotional, and I would probably overreact. I guess I'm just weird like that if people were to take away my children.

[FirstLight]

8. +1

agreed...I'd sue 'em ALL... forget about the money (which would sure be nice) but the PRINCIPLE! and these kids were put in foster care for a MONTH? OOOOooooh! I'd freaking KILL someone! The kids were in MORE danger in foster care than at home !!!! :grrr:

[Crunchy Frog]

9. If you think that's bad, check this out.

Two children were taken away from their parents after a photo of a 12-month-old baby with his lips on his mother's nipple was developed at a local drug store and then reported to authorities by the shop's clerk. No experts were consulted, no evaluations were made, the children were simply whisked away and the parents charged with the second-degree felony of "sexual performance of a minor."

According to the Dallas Observer, Johnny Fernandez, a hospital technician in Peru, had just immigrated to the US to be reunited with his girlfriend, Jacqueline Mercado, and their children. They took photos of their joyful reunion. The elation was enhanced by the celebration of their baby's first birthday. Since dad had missed the blissful breastfeeding days of recently weaned Rodrigo, mom decided to see if he would latch-on for a picture to commemorate and preserve this beautiful passage.

Peruvian born Mercado brought four rolls of film to a 1-hour photo lab in late October. Days later, her life, and those of her family, were turned upside-down. After responding to the photo clerk's alert, Richardson police reportedly considered the pictures to contain sexuality. A Child Protective Services supervisor, without any information beyond the photos, ordered the children to be removed from their home.

The two young children were gone from their home for a total of 5 months. When asked how the children fared the separation, attorney Lafuente described that the first days in foster care brought lots of crying, misunderstanding, and expressions of missing mom. Even after a compromise was reached in December to place the children in temporary custody of the biological father of the older boy, the nights remained very traumatic. Supervised daytime visitations by Mercado and her boyfriend did become more lenient in this new placement.

Lafuente described the distraught Spanish-speaking parents as never entirely understanding what they had done wrong, why they were being threatened with prison, and why their family was torn apart. They explained to him how they had worked so hard and long to move their family to this "land of the free" and that they loved their children so very much. They expressed that they would never do anything to harm their children and did not intend to break the laws of their new country.

http://thebabybond.com/Breastfeeding%20Crime.html

We live in an insane society.

[Faryn Balyncd]

10. What would Lady Liberty think?