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Canada: Mom of dead Alberta girl, 9, charged with abduction
Submitted by fathers4fairness on Fri, 2014-09-05 01:18
Story here. Excerpt:
'CALGARY - Charges of abduction and break and enter are pending against a woman whose nine-year-old daughter was found dead in a vehicle near Sundre, Alberta, this week.
Identified as Amber Lucius, 9, the girl's body was discovered in a vehicle on a rural road near Sundre -- about 116 km northwest of Calgary -- by RCMP on Tuesday.
...
Franks said a woman was found near the vehicle and taken into custody.
Laura Coward, 47, is now facing charges of break and enter to commit theft and abduction in contravention of a custody order.
Police said Coward is Lucius' mother.
When reached, family of the father, Duane Lucius, declined comment, but said the couple are in the midst of a divorce.'
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Comments
Just "abduction"?
Here in the US, a Georgia father currently faces 3 murder charges for one instance of murder, assuming he's guilty of the murder. He's charged with malice murder (murder with malice aforethought), and 2 counts of felony murder stemming from 2 different offenses around child abuse -- all for the same crime of deliberately locking his son in his car and letting him die. If he's guilty of doing so, he's committed one murder, not three. But somehow, he's facing three murder charges for the same murder. (He also faces other charges from his sexting sessions, one with a minor female, though it's not clear to me if he'd ever met her or knew she was underage; still, that all is getting thrown at him.)
Even when women get charged for such an offense, even if charged with murder, they don't get the book thrown at them like this. As for sexting with minors, pretty rarely do women face charges for that.
The outcome in both these cases is the same: a dead child. By kidnapping and leaving her daughter alone, assuming she's guilty, she negligently allowed conditions to arise wherein any reasonable person could predict a fair likelihood the girl would either die or suffer serious adverse health effects. And she did this *after* kidnapping her. So why isn't she facing at least felony murder on top of kidnapping and child abuse charges?
We know the reason. She's a she. That's all.
just heard some good news.
law schools, supported by the 'assn. for female feminist judges' and many other victim's groups all over the country, are considering adding a new term/principle into the law. it looks like the word 'princess' will be enshrined into law soon. a follow up will be to define the word, and then decide just how many categories of women will be included in the new protected class of people, before the law. it is being argued that since it has been proposed that only loony-leftist feminist types of women should be included in this new category of long overdue privilege, it is in no way sexist. also to be included under the def. will be minority women, and our current president for life.
//sarcoff//
Amber Alert not issued - protocols not followed
Today I heard that an investigation has been opened into why no "Amber Alert" was issued after it was clear Mom had breeched a Court Order to return her daughter to Dad. The Mom was the non-custodial parent after repeatedly failing to allow Dad access.
Protocols for "Amber Alerts" were loosened in 2010 after a furor arose over alleged RCMP foot-dragging when a young girl went missing and was later found dead. The result was blamed on what were called "restrictive" protocols for issuing an "Amber Alert".
Since then there have been a raft of "Amber Alerts" issued on an almost weekly basis where it turns out Dads have failed to return children by supposed deadlines set by Mom's. Of course the full weight of Police resources is brought to bear on these "malfactors".
Clearly in this terrible case Mom was given a free pass and so IMHO this degree of introspection by the RCMP is unusual.
-------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Victoria_Stafford
http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/story/1.2757395
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMBER_Alert
"Since then there have been a
"Since then there have been a raft of "Amber Alerts" issued on an almost weekly basis where it turns out Dads have failed to return children by supposed deadlines set by Mom's. Of course the full weight of Police resources is brought to bear on these "malfactors"."
where has this occurred? Courts set deadlines, not mothers, and Amber alerts are only issued if there is clear evidence of an abduction, not parents running late. The Amber alerts in my area are rare and have been accurate and necessary based on the evidence at hand. I have not seen any evidence of your statement.
Alberta Amber Alerts
For the 26 weeks to July 1, 2014 in Alberta alone there have been 24 Amber Alerts (Source: https://www.solgps.alberta.ca/safe_communities/community_awareness/Pages/amber_alert.aspx)
As we are also in close proximity to Saskatchewan and BC - we often hear about Amber Alerts from these jurisdictions as well because there is alot of traffic between our provinces. (In fact according to www.missingpersons.ca there are currently 28 Reported Missing Persons in Alberta, 23 in Saskatchewan and 55 in BC - but those include adults and others so these are not strictly comparable to Amber Alerts.)
1) So yes Amber Alerts are quite frequent - and as I said "almost weekly" - whereas prior to 2010 they were much less common.
As far as Amber Alerts where Dads are tagged - here is the last one on June 27@23:26h-and then Cancelled about 5hrs later. Typically these notices do NOT say WHY they were Cancelled - unless there is a news report about the incident that explains it a bit more - so it is impossible to know for sure. However often with additional news commentary and circumstances it is possible to conjecture that one parent is merely using the Amber Alert to cause a ruckus and typically it is a failure to return a child by a court-ordered/designated time.
I contend that if the Alert was cancelled within a short time like 6-8hrs after the Alert was issued accompanied by the observation that the child was safely located - then it was likely such an incident. But yes this is not always the case.
http://emergencyalert.alberta.ca/alerts/2014/06/2562.html
Here is a previous Amber Alert abduction in Alberta by a Mom -and according to the commentary it appears a credible threat. Now we have a repeat scenario with Laura Coward where it tragically escalated into the death of her 9 yo daughter.
http://emergencyalert.alberta.ca/alerts/2014/05/2440.html
http://missingpeople.ca/2014/05/parental-abduction-two-missing-girls-in-vulcan-alberta-telisha-meisel-12-and-taya-meisel-6/
I suggest that as Moms are being given "free passes" by the RCMP in issuing Amber Alerts in run-of-the-mill "failure to return" incidents where they typically throw the book at Dads - is why events escalate into deadly incidents - as what sadly happened to Amber Lucius.
2) My hypothesis is designed to explain the facts as they appear - but only an "in-depth" analysis across the province or all provinces would "prove" my theory.
Alberta: 3 amber alerts in 19 months
I don't see how any of your links prove or even support a hypothesis that mothers are using Amber alerts frivolously or that police have sexist policies for Amber alerts. Here is my assessments of the links you provided.
The link provided by you indicates 22 Amber alerts have been issued for the Alberta area, but says nothing about it being in a 26 week period as you say (so I assume it is over many years). The Alberta archives indicate only 3 Amber alerts have been issued in the year 2014 so far (none in 2013).
http://www.solgps.alberta.ca/safe_communities/community_awareness/Pages/amber_alert.aspx
This link below is about an amber alert regarding a father abduction, but you assume it could be mom frivolously using the system for a dad not returning a child on time just because the alert was canceled about 5 hours later?
http://emergencyalert.alberta.ca/alerts/2014/06/2562.html
However, if you google the story, reports indicate the father forcibly took the child from the mother by forcing the child out of the mother's car during an altercation in a parking lot. The child was hurt, scared and father did not have visitation nor did he have any provisions to care for the child. Father was known to police so perhaps he had a criminal record and/or history of violence. It was during a heated argument between the parents not during a visitation exchange. The alert was canceled the next day after the child was found.
here is my source about 3 amber alerts in 2014 for Alberta. All other alerts in the archive were emergency or weather related. Maybe that's what you saw:
http://www.emergencyalert.alberta.ca/alerts/2014/index.html
Review of Amber Alert in death of 9yo Alberta girl
A review to consider how sexist the RCMP were - or how to modify approach during custody disputes? Take your pick.
Either way a child is dead at the hand of one of her parents - who should be looking after her, not abusing her. This is a terrible tragedy and no gender has a monopoly on this mistreatment - despite what feminists would have you believe.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Custody+dispute+surfaces+death+nine+year+girl+Amber+Lucius/10180230/story.html
So far you have claimed:1-
So far you have claimed:
1- "there have been a raft of "Amber Alerts" issued on an almost weekly basis" (You use Alberta Canada as your example)
2 - "where it turns out Dads have failed to return children by supposed deadlines set by Mom's."
3 - "the full weight of Police resources is brought to bear on these "malfactors"."
4 - "I contend that if the Alert was cancelled within a short time like 6-8hrs after the Alert was issued accompanied by the observation that the child was safely located - then it was likely such an incident [of fathers failing to return kids on time]."
5 - "I suggest that as Moms are being given "free passes" by the RCMP in issuing Amber Alerts in run-of-the-mill "failure to return" incidents....is why events escalate into deadly incidents - as what sadly happened to Amber Lucius."
6 - "A review to consider how sexist the RCMP were [in the Lucius case]"
My responses to your claims:
1- The archive of Amber alerts broadcast in Alberta does not show "weekly" alerts. It shows 24 amber alerts since 1998 which even includes the two broadcasted in Alberta from other provinces. I do not know anyplace in Canada or USA that has had weekly amber alerts.
source: http://www.emergencyalert.alberta.ca/alerts/2014/index.html (if you open the link for 1998 to 2011 it is pdf and amber alerts begin on page 11)
2- None of the 24 Amber alerts in Alberta were about "dads who failed to return kids by supposed deadlines set by Moms" All of the 24 cases have a brief description in the archive and can be googled to see the circumstances/outcome. And return deadlines are set by judges and exact times are written in the parenting plan.
3- I think you are making this up, since none of the 24 cases in Alberta turned out to be about "these malfactors" (dads failing to return kids on time), and you have not provided a source as to how you would know how much police resources were used.
4 - IMO, this is a foolish contention. I cant find a single amber alert ANYWHERE in Canada or USA which suggest this. Some amber alerts last only minutes as they are car-jackings with a child in the back seat. All areas which use amber alerts indicate there must be evidence of an abduction before an alert is issued. And records of amber alerts indicate they are true to this claim.
5 - Can you provide ANY link or source to ANY amber alert that would give you reason to suggest RCMP/police are favoring mothers in issuing amber alerts? if you could provide supporting sources, I may start to take you seriously.
6 - You just wont stop about your claim of sexism regarding amber alerts and RCMP will you? And none of your links even support claims of sexism. Either stop claiming sexism or provide a link which actually supports your claim.
Regarding the Lucius case: Just because a mother killed a child does not necessarily mean that the amber alert protocol was sexists. Just because an amber alert was not issued immediately does not automatically point to sexism by the RCMP, it could be other types of errors in judgment or it could be that no one could have predicted this tragedy. I admit I am not following the case, but from what I know, the father had full custody of the child, and the RCMP (aka Canadian police) did not have the info until at least a day AFTER the child was not returned to the father (So I assume father did not report it to police immediately). Neither of those details indicate sexism.
And if you want to change amber alert protocol - be careful what you ask for. More leniency would mean more alerts and the public would become immune to them. So far it seems to me, in the Lucius case, there was a flaw as to why the RCMP/police did not have the info about the missing child in a timely manner.
There likely will be sexism in the sentencing of the mother compared to fathers who commit similar crimes. There may have already been sexism by the courts regarding the granting of unsupervised visitation. There may be sexism in this case, but lets make sure we stay factual when we point the finger regarding "sexism" and point to the correct agencies and policies.