Mom not charged for dumping disabled daughter at bar
Lynn Cameron (Caryville Police Department)
Abandoning a child who needs help is never right, but it’s not always illegal.
A Chicago-area woman who drove to Tennessee to dump off her mentally disabled 19-year-old daughter will not be charged, police said Tuesday in The Knoxville News Sentinel.
Police in the tiny town of Caryville had tried since June 28 to figure out the identity of the young woman. A break in the case came 10 days later when a Chicago-area resident recognized the daughter on a missing persons website and alerted authorities, who contacted the mom – Eva Cameron, 45, of Algonquin, Ill.
The mom traveled back to Tennessee to speak to police, not to pick up her daughter, Lynn Cameron, who has the mental capacity of a toddler and could not identify herself or her mother.
“[The mom] said that she did not want her, that she couldn’t take care of her and that she wasn’t going to take her back to Illinois,” said Caryville police Assistant Chief Stephanie Smith in The Chicago Tribune.
“She let her out to use the bathroom and drove away,” Smith said Tuesday. “She said she just couldn’t handle her anymore.”
Cameron, who has another mentally disabled child, cannot be charged because the daughter she abandoned is legally an adult.
Cameron told The Northwest Herald in suburban Chicago that she drove her daughter to Tennessee because it has the “No. 1 health care system in the United States of America” and she wanted the best for her child. She also said her church directed her there because it is a more Baptist area.
Tuesday, the daughter became an official ward of the state of Tennessee.
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155 comments Add your comment
joe suggs
July 11th, 2012
3:25 pm
It is her child !!! Who is supposed to support her ? Where is the father ?
Tonya
July 11th, 2012
3:27 pm
This is not sad the mom didn’t know any better she is mentally challanged to just look at her.
Jon Lake
July 11th, 2012
3:28 pm
Gee, wouldn’t it be a shame if “Mom” were to slip and fall down the steps while leaving the police station.
Susan
July 11th, 2012
3:30 pm
This is a darn shame!
real deal is...
July 11th, 2012
3:35 pm
NO EXCUSE P E R I O D
Melodie
July 11th, 2012
3:36 pm
I am in such a quandary about these types of stories. I have had friends, family members, church members and coworkers that have handicapped children and this woman has 2. You never get a full nights sleep, you never get to enjoy a quite meal, watch TV, go on vacation or even just take a walk. Your child requires full time 24/7/365 care. There is no help. There is no relief. I didn’t see the childs age but she is over 18. That means in addition to caring for her, she has the mental capacity of a toddler, she also has to assist her in bathing, going to the bathroom and taking care of her female issues. She also has to worry about pregnancy and monthly uh, hm, cleanliness, in other words her period. She can not do anything about that unless the child agrees because the child is an adult. You have children you expect them to grow up, have their own life, you never expect to have to take care of them forever. I can not even BEGIN to imagine the nightmare that is. People that don’t know say “these children are so sweet natured” ah no. I have been around ones that are angry and mean. Think about it, a toddler???? She can’t even dress herself or feed herself how many years can you DO that? You love your children but your entire life is them. You never get any time to yourself and how about your marriage? Do you ever get any time together? Alone? Sex? What about finances? That means only one of you can work and when that person gets home they have to help as well. No relief, a miserable life. I hurt for them all
Southside
July 11th, 2012
3:38 pm
I do not condone what she did, but unless you have been the parent of a severely disabled child, you do not know the stress and pressure that comes with it. This happens more than people realize, but it is seldom reported. In Griffin a few years ago a woman was charged with killing her two disabled children because she could not longer deal with it. As the parent of a disabled child, I can relate to both of them, although I would not go to that extremee. From most of the comments, it appears that majority of the readers do not have clue what it is like to deal with a disabled child.
vicki
July 11th, 2012
3:38 pm
Realy….if this woman was capable to dumping her disabled daughter off at a public restroom and driving off….isnt the child better off with the State of Tennessee – instead of her mother??? The mother must have been abusing her – or at least neglecting her. How sad….hopefully someone will give this young teen a better life…she deserves it!!. The mother has to live with herself!!
Jesus Christ crushes perverted NWO, DBMs
July 11th, 2012
3:42 pm
Let’s take Bobby’s logic @1:48 to its conclusion. If the person who shot a black woman in the head recently and left her in the road to die was not black, wouldn’t he/she be justified in killing her?
After all, 99.99% of black people can’t survive in society without the direct life sustaining support of other races. They are totally dependent on them for their basic needs, food, clothing, shelter, employment, education, healthcare etc…
Bobby’s logic dictates that black people are simply fetuses and can be killed at any time by those providing life sustaining support.
Amen?
End of her rope
July 11th, 2012
3:57 pm
I don’t condone the parent’s actions, but I can empathise. They took care of that disabled child for 18 years. There is another disabled child at home. How hard do you think that is to do? The trouble is that there isn’t enough support for parents with severly disabled children. What will happen to the children when the parents aren’t physically able to take care of them anymore? I suspect that is what happended. Remeber your toddler’s reasoning and behavior? Now put that reasoning and behavior in the body of an adult. Remember the toddler’s “tantrums?” What does an 18 year old toddler “tantrum” look like. Not many older women can physically handle this. Don’t judge the parent. She may have done the best she could do.