Mistake or misdemeanor? Mother leaves two-month-old baby in a shopping cart

A parenting faux pas has ignited a slew of opinions on social media, as Facebook and Twitter users go to bat either for or against Cherish Peterson, the 27-year-old mother of four who forgot her two-month-old baby in a shopping cart in front of a grocery store. The Arizona mother was running errands in a Fry’s grocery store in Gilbert, Arizona, and while she remembered the candy for her nephew’s birthday, she forgot one of her children. It wasn’t until she’d returned home when her three-year-old son asked, “Where is baby Huxton?” that she realized her horrible mistake.

For 40 minutes, Peterson went about her day completely unaware that her youngest child was not in the car with her, but rather in the very responsible hands of an off-duty police officer, who noticed the seemingly abandoned baby and took him to a nearby salon. After a checkup at a local hospital, Huxton was released to his parents, not having sustained any injuries (a lucky break, considering the high in Gilbert was 104 degrees that day). Peterson has now been charged with one count of child endangerment, a misdemeanor in the state of Arizona.

But the real drama is not playing out in the courtroom, but rather on the Internet, where opinions are heated and sharply divided over how much blame Peterson should really be receiving. A Facebook group entitled “I Stand With Cherish” had well over 17,000 members as of press time, and the hashtag #IStandWithCherish has gotten plenty of pickup on both sides of the debate.

While many of her defenders insist that Peterson is just a stressed mother who made an innocent and understandable mistake, others are not so quick to forgive. As one user tweeted, “#istandwithcherish needs to not be a thing. A ‘mistake’ is leaving milk at the store after u bought it. Not leaving ur 2 m/o at the store.”

#istandwithcherish needs to not be a thing. A ‘mistake’ is leaving milk at the store after u bought it. Not leaving ur 2 m/o at the store.

— Laura Miller (@lauramiiiller) August 31, 2015

Taylor was sentenced to 18 years (yes, years) probation following two felony charges. With racial tensions at an all-time high, it comes as little surprise that many people on social media are outraged by the outpouring of support for Peterson, particularly when Taylor was quickly criticized and ridiculed for a similar oversight.

So if you’ve opinions on the issue, social media beckons.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1FdxeOM
Lulu Chang