Teen accused of false imprisonment of toddler

[MixedVariety]

Check out this video. Read the article.

He saw a 3-year-old girl without a parent. If he had it to do all over again, if he could see the cops, the handcuffs, the TV cameras and the jail cell all awaiting him, I imagine the last thing he would have done was try to help her.

But he did.

I pieced together what happened from the investigative report, a 911 call, surveillance video, news reports and interviews with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Edwin approached the girl and told her he would find her mother. Edwin's mother said she saw the two together, asked Edwin what was going on, and then said she would help.

Then Edwin made his big mistake. He thought the girl's mother might be among a group of women that he saw leaving the store. So off he went.

The video shows him leaving the store, with the girl following behind. Once outside, he took her by the hand.

Edwin's mother then appeared, following after him and the girl.

It turned out the girl's lost mother was in the store. She told investigators that she was returning an item to the shelf when she lost track of her daughter. She naturally became alarmed. Another shopper told her that the girl left the store with a man. Edwin is big enough to pass for a defensive lineman, which probably is part of the problem here.

The video shows the girl's mother rushing out the door.

By that time, Edwin had discovered the girl didn't belong to any of the women he had seen leaving the store. He said he was turning back to return to the store.

There was a convergence of Edwin, his mother, the little girl and her mother. The girl was returned to her mother.

The video then shows mother and daughter going back into the store, followed shortly thereafter by Edwin and his mother.

I'm not sure what really happened here. The article is definitely slanted in the teen's favor. I'm inclined to believe his version, since he walked back into the store afterward. However long I study the video, though, it could be either exactly as the teen is claiming, or an intentional attempt to kidnap a child, by the teen and his mother, that was thwarted by a quick discovery.

[JoeKnowMo]

I don't buy an unplanned kidnap attempt by a 14-year-old. Mom failed and decided to absolve herself of responsibility by blaming the good Samaritan.

No good deed goes unpunished.

[Frangeo Munda]

Er, when would it be "rightful" imprisonment of toddler?

[Rhokk of Drogbar]

I would side with the teen on this case. I seriously doubt that he was attempting to kidnap the girl. I would have helped the girl out in the situation as well, but I first would have gone to store security saying that I had found a lost girl so they could page in-store for the mother.

This was just a misunderstanding gone wrong.

[Raiala]

No good deed goes unpunished.

[David Holtzman]

Er, when would it be "rightful" imprisonment of toddler?

If it were grounded by its parents, for one example. Taken by child services is another.

[Art]

Where was the imprisonment part?

I only saw neglect by the toddler's mother, a teen that should start exercising and a great bargain on a winter coat.

-Art

[OhFrustration]

Ignore, please. Or delete this one.

[OhFrustration]

Sigh at this case.

I don't buy an unplanned kidnap attempt by a 14-year-old. Mom failed and decided to absolve herself of responsibility by blaming the good Samaritan.

No good deed goes unpunished.

I agree with Joe here.

[raspberry jam]

It turned out the girl's lost mother was in the store. She told investigators that she was returning an item to the shelf when she lost track of her daughter. She naturally became alarmed.

How do you manage to lose track of your kid in such a sparsely populated store???