Add this to the list of "Things moms used to do that would get you arrested now." A mother has been charged with misdemeanor child endangerment after posing for a photo in a hot tub with her 14-year-old daughter — both of them topless. The person who took the photo? Her other daughter. For whatever reason (kids!), that daughter took the photo and uploaded it to Snapchat, which allows users to briefly share photos before they disappear. But somehow the photo got around, and the next thing you know, pretty much everyone at her kids' high school had seen it. "This is an example of some extremely poor judgment by a parent," said the Wentzville, Missouri prosecutor. Or, you know, NOT.
The 50-year-old mom claims she was just getting out of the tub when her daughter snapped the photo and she demanded she delete it. Which obviously the girl didn't do. But the prosecutor maintains it was clearly a posed photo, with both mom and daughter topless, but covering their nipples.
Oooooo. Horrors.
One of my odder memories of growing up is going to the YWCA with my grandmother. After our swims, she would take a shower and then blow dry her hair — still completely naked. She would come up to me and make conversation — completely naked.
She was in a gym shower room. She was my grandmother. Yes, it was awkward. To this day, I don't know why she couldn't have wrapped herself in a towel. But it didn't traumatize me (much). Today, she'd probably be hauled off to the slammer. Though I certainly would have never taken her photo and uploaded it online.
This charge carries a possibility of a year in jail. Seriously, a state might take a year away from a mom and her kids because they aren't ashamed of their breasts?
I'm not even sure what the "endangerment" part here refers to. How does it endanger your child if he/she sees your breasts? Do you risk arrest every time you scurry naked from the bathroom to your bedroom and one of your kids might see you? What if your kid walks in on you having sex? What about breastfeeding?!
Authorities claim the mom's son, who attends school where the photo was being circulated, was "ridiculed" by his classmates. So now we are arresting moms who embarrass their children? You're gonna need a bigger jail!
And since the mom didn't upload the photo, I don't see what this woman did wrong.
Did these cops just need something to do that day or what?! Oddly, the 14-year-old daughter already had counseling at school because she'd passed around nude photos of herself in the past. Apparently this is a family that likes nudity? Maybe there is something off in general with this family, but this particular incident does not seem to warrant an arrest.
The mom and daughter were in a hot tub — NOT a daycare center. If anything, it's the other daughter, whose age is never reported, at fault here, not the mom. She should definitely be grounded.
By the way, moms, you can disable your teens' cellphone cameras. Might want to look into that.
Do you think the mom should have been arrested?
Image via www.metaphoricalplatypus.com/Flickr
