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
Thatguy
July 11th, 2012
11:11 am
“She also said her church directed her there because it is a more Baptist area.”
Because keeping her Baptist was more important than convincing the mom not to abandon her child (-ish)? Some people…
BOB
July 11th, 2012
11:12 am
I guess if you are liberal and believe in the nanny state you are ok with what the mother did
HowDoYouKnow
July 11th, 2012
11:19 am
As heartbreaking and cruel as her actions may sound, no one knows what this woman has been through. Sure, she could have been receiving benefits — could have been being the operative words here — but do any of you know that for sure. Yes, this is her child, but does anyone posting here have any idea what it takes to care for a mentally disabled child or child with severe healthcare issues, who has also had to deal with obtaining and receiving any type of benefits for assistance? I myself have a 23-year-old with severe medical issues who actually had to be revived four times last year and not only have issues with obtaining adequate medical care for her but could not get any assistance for her children, to help care for them, because she did not pass away. And, yes, I’m still here fighting for my daughter, but everyday is a constant battle and struggle trying to deal with the system. Don’t judge this woman too harshly. Maybe she was just at the end of her rope, didn’t have any other options, and couldn’t see a way out. Instead, pray for her and her daughter.
Jesus Christ crushes perverted NWO, DBMs
July 11th, 2012
11:25 am
By the same token, there is no moral equivalency etc to a mother killing a helpless innocent baby in the womb via abortion vs. a mother dumping off her mentally disabled 19-year-old daughter in Tennessee.
As Christians and thinking human beings, it is impossible to justify the former but possible to lend support to the latter.
Amen?
Emeka
July 11th, 2012
11:25 am
I think the mom did a responsible thing. We don’t know the type of difficulties that she has been going through. According to the news, she picked Tenneesse because of its good healthcare record, so she really thought about what was good for her ” GROWN” child. Again, she has another child with similar mental issues. Lets give the mom some credit , she took care of the child till she became an adult. Lets face it , some men have kids and never paid child support , some women gave birth to kids but left grandma to raise their kids. The later is even worse than what this woman did.
re-tah-ded
July 11th, 2012
11:29 am
have you seen my baseball?
Mother
July 11th, 2012
11:41 am
What kind of a mother is she? Ok… you can’t handle taking care of her but you dump her and drive off.. You couldn’t go through the proper channels… then you say it’s because the state has great healthcare… TOTAL BS! I’m so disgusted… Shame on that woman.. and what kind of church would give her that kind of advice.. they couldn’t have known that this was her plan…. DFACs should take her other kid… apparently when the money runs out so does the care…
parent of special child
July 11th, 2012
11:46 am
As the parent of a special child over the age of 18, legally an adult, but in no way capable of caring for herself, I would not leave the child with strangers, let alone abandon her. In my opinion, she should be charged with abuse. That would be the charge if an adult child was found to be abusing and/or neglecting their mentally or physically incapacited parent. Just because the young lady was legally an adult does not condone her abandoning her!
betsy
July 11th, 2012
11:46 am
legally she could abandon her child, but morally she did a horrible thing why did her church not find a mental facility to place the “child” because that is still what she is what kind of “cult” excuse me church did she attend Lord Jesus help us all because most of the world is messed up bad
BG
July 11th, 2012
11:48 am
Unreal!!