Couple frequently abandons child to party
Couple Mitch Laputka and Rachel Anderson, not being able to afford a baby sitter, frequently left their child at home to go out and party. Unfortunately this story gets worse… much worse…
The couple, working at Pizza Hut, would neglect their child and instead spend the money on booze and partying.
Now I’m not trying to look down on Pizza Hut employees, or anyone else working a crap job, but if you are… you should probably be putting that money away in a savings account or doing anything else with it other than buying booze and partying. This is even more true if you’ve got a kid to take care of!
Unfortunately, it seem like very little was spent on the kid — money or attention.
The mother would change his diaper only once a day and the father refused to change his diaper at all resulting in diaper rash all over his little body.
They would frequently (have I said frequently enough yet?) leave the child alone at home for as long as 15 hours at a time, strapped into the stroller, alone, to go out and party.
The couple told Police they left their son at home because they couldn’t afford a baby sitter. They probably would be able to afford a baby sitter if they were more responsible and stopped frivolously spending their Pizza Hut money.
This last time they abandoned their child, he was found with a body temperature 12 degrees below normal and required 21 minutes of CPR before he would start breathing again.
Child Welfare has rescued and now has custody of the 14-month-old boy; all they have said is that he is safe.
The parents have pled not guilty, but I don’t see how they can escape these charges.
(thanks to Danielle and Jennifer for sending this tip in)
Sphere: Related Content
October 4th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
OMG!! Look at tese two pieces of shit. It looks like between both of them they may have 1/2 a brain (maybe). I still don’t understand why you need an license to fish, hunt, drive a car, CUT HAIR!!!….. but any piece of shit, inbred moron can have a child. Why is that??? I just want to slap the shit out of the mother. UGH!!! That look on her face just sceams “I DON’T CARE!! f*CK YOU!!”. Am I wrong.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
It never ceases to amaze me how any piece of garbage can procreate. How unfortunate for the baby. I am just grateful that he survived. I only hope that someone will adopt the poor little guy and show him what real parents are. And, no April, you are not wrong at all. If it were up to me, these idiots would be locked up forever and horse whipped every day of their miserable lives. I hope to God they get what is coming to them.
October 5th, 2007 at 4:15 am
What horrible pieces of shit!!! they left this baby strapped into a stroller for 15 hours! I feel guilty for leaving my DOG home alone while we are at work/school. This is ridiculous. They can’t afford a babysitter? I can afford a babysitter, but when I can’t FIND one, I STAY MY ASS AT HOME WITH MY CHILD!!!!
There are so many people out there that would give anything to have a baby and these trashy idiots treat him like garbage. If you have no plans to take care of your child, GIVE THEM UP. You don’t deserve to be a parent. Sterilize them both, lock them up and throw away the key.
I’m sure there are plenty of men and women in prison that would much rather spend every waking hour with their babies than be there that will be more than happy to show them the error of their ways.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Kathy – I feel guilty leaving my child with a sitter. If my folks aren’t available I stay my ass at home. By looking at these two – I’m not sure if them staying home with the child would have made much of a difference. Thank God he was removed – Now if they can just remove his penis and her uterus I would feel so much better.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:58 am
I feel guilty about that too! However, our closest relative is over 1000 miles away! We have to depend on babysitters. We are never gone for more than 4 hours and to be completely honest, we only use a babysitter 3 times a year. :/ All WORK related formal celebrations! LOL!
October 5th, 2007 at 10:27 am
21 minutes of CPR? How long had he been sitting there like that, and I’m curious if there is any brain damage now…..that’s A LONG time to administor CPR to a child without there being some kind of long term damage! Poor kid! If he has long term damage from not getting enough oxygen, I hope that is held against them as well. And where were other family members? I thought it ironic that their neighbor in the interview stated he knew they had a baby but rarely saw them with it, since his daughter was the same age, couldn’t he have gone over to have a “play time” setting for both kids, at least if he had been persistant about trying to get with them for a “playtime”, then maybe the poor child could have been saved sooner! It just always amazes me that people say such things after the fact…we knew they had a kid but never saw it…and never question things further. Surely someone would have heard this baby crying to (they lived in an apartment, wouldn’t the neighbors have smelled the stench as well as hearing the baby crying and noticing them coming and going without the baby?)! It’s such a shame how people so easily look the other way and never want to get involved!
October 5th, 2007 at 10:31 am
I know my neighbors are CONSTANTLY asking me about my two kids when they haven’t seen them for awhile, and we’re talking about the neighbors just nonchalantly seeing them outside playing, etc. In fact, one of my neighbors I didn’t even know came over to ask my dad (she really didn’t know who my dad was, she had only seen him a few times at our house) one day while the kids and I were gone in another state for a week, if we were all okay because she hadn’t seen any of us, and saw him there all the time, she wanted to make sure we were all okay and that we weren’t sick, etc. Now if my neighbors can be that concerned and we can watch out for each other, why can’t other neighbors look out for each other like that?
October 5th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
It makes me sick to know that people like this really do exisist!!!! Those people deserve to hang!!!! i am just glad that little boy will be okay (as long as he is not with his parents) Lock them up and throw away the key!!!
October 5th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Kathy – That is understandable. I am lucky enought to have my mother about 3 blocks away. I am just so freaked out by the whole “babysitter” thing. I guess I would now that he is older I might but never as an infant.
Susan – I know that parent accompany the children on play dates and get to be “friends” with the other children’s parents. Do these two look like someone you would want to hang out with??? Not me. That look like scumbags…both of them. I guess I can’t blame hime for not setting up play dates. I did wonder why he didn’t question never seeing the baby. Trouble is that not too many people care to get involved. It may cause an interuption in their life to try to save a child’s life. I saw a woman yesterday hitting her dog and stopped my car to say something to her about it. It thought she was gonna hit me but I sure wasn’t gonna just drive by letting her hit her dog. I feel the need to get involved. Every animal, child, elderly person needs a voice. Even if it is just one.
October 5th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
For starters i think this is a horrible circumstance. I hope the baby will be ok, but I agree with whoever was talking about brain damage. After only 6-7 mins without oxygen to the brain, damage will start.
IN RESPONSE TO;
I saw a woman yesterday hitting her dog and stopped my car to say something to her about it. It thought she was gonna hit me but I sure wasn’t gonna just drive by letting her hit her dog. I feel the need to get involved. Every animal, child, elderly person needs a voice. Even if it is just one.
I am the same way. I recently pulled my car over because I saw a kid being bullied by three much larger kids. I would have pulled over for the dog etc. I wish we could get back to that time in our country when there actually was a village (village= lots of people in the neighborhood who you knew really well, and would yell at your kids or call you to tell you that your kids were being bad) to raise the kids.
October 5th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Yeah. It’s a shame that speople just look the other way. It took me 2 seconds to pull my car over and tell her that she shouldn’t own a dog if she can’t handle one (it was barking at another dog). She told me to shut the f*ck up and I simply told her that I could calla the cops and report that there was a woman abusing a dog on Cypress St and I drove off. I suppose I could have done more but I just wanted her to know that people DO see her being mean to the dog. I hope that was enough. Take care!
October 5th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
She’s lucky, I keep a billy club in my car for people like that.
October 5th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
The dad says he “doesn’t do diapers”.
Are you kidding me? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Apparently this guy “didn’t do condoms”, either and he should have.
BOTH of these people are idiots but I couldn’t get over the part about the dad saying that he doesn’t do diapers for some reason!
October 5th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Haaaa-haaaaa!! That’s a GREAT idea… I love it!
October 5th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
When I read this story, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. This is the kind of thing that keeps me awake at night. I thought about that poor baby in that stroller for 15 hours at a time and I thought about how afraid he must have been, not to mention all the physical pain he must have suffered because of the diaper rash and neglect. People don’t know how lucky they are to be able to have kids. I tried for 10 years and thought I would never be able to have children and so I finally gave up and that’s when it happened. I became pregnant at almost 40 years old! When my angel was born, we almost lost him because he was so sick. He was in Brennars Childrens Hospital for a week and I was so afraid but he is ok now. He is two months old. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that children are not a burden. If pieces of shit like this do not want them, they should be on birth control. It’s free in most places for the poor. I have no sympathy for morons like these people. Anyone who hurts a baby or a child should be put to death in my opinion.
October 6th, 2007 at 6:16 am
rockdoll – I agree. I sadens me to think that assholes like this can have children… all the children they want. They treat them like they are disposable. Good people (lots of them) would love to have children and they can’t. So sad.
Congratulations on your baby. Little boys are so special. Mine is 6 and I love him to pieces. Give yours hugs and kisses every day and when he is six it will melt your heart at the love that he returns. Mine tells me he wants to marry me. It is so sweet. LOL
October 6th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
April, THAT IS SOOOOOO SWEET!!! LOL
My little doll is the best thing that EVER happened to me. I can’t imagine anyone treating him that way. Don’t these idiots realize what treasures that they have? God, I just hate those people.
October 6th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
The problem is that they are selfish. I’m sure they don’t see their children as blessings. They see them as a burden. Shame since there are so many women that would love to adopt but can’t afford private adoption. Lucky you that you were albe to get pregnant. Kiss him for me. ☺
October 6th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
April, I sure will!
October 7th, 2007 at 7:16 am
If I sit on my back porch at nap time, my 6 month old can go from waking up to screaming loud enough for the neighborhood to hear , before I can get upstairs to get her. How was this kid quiet enough not to alert the neighbors? This is horrible, selfish, stupid parenting and they should go a while without food, a bathroom, andnever see this kid again.
October 7th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
You know what I don’t get? How can any mother bear to voluntarily be away from her baby for 15 hours unless it’s absolutely necessary. My 3-year-old is in full time daycare because I work and by the end of the day I crave the sight of him, the smell of his hair, the feel of his little fingers holding my hand.
If I had the choice I’d NEVER be away from him. When I get him up in the morning it still lifts my heart straight to the sky just to see him waiting for me and smiling at me and lifting his arms for me to pick him up.
So my mind just cannot process how any mother could leave her child strapped into a stroller – frightened, alone and hungry for 15 minutes let alone 15 hours.
Perhaps 15 straight years in solitary confinement, strapped to a chair with minimal food and water and no toilet might convey to these animals the horror of what they did to this little boy. At least it would be a start.
October 8th, 2007 at 6:19 am
I cant get this off of my mind!!! It is so sad. I have this neighbor who has a 1 year old little girl and i am not trying to be a nosey neighbor but when i am outside playing with my son i can hear this little girl screaming at the top of her lungs ALL THE TIME and than you can hear that mom say OMG WHAT THE F*CK!!! And stomp upstairs normally i would just try to think positive but after finding this website i cant just sit back and watch/listen anymore. Knowing what this poor little boy went through i called the cops on my neighbor just to send someone over to make sure everything was ok. Well th cop looked at me like i was on his nerves but thats ok i am just glad to know that the baby was fine (as far as we know) my neighbor is pretty pissed at me and talks alot of shit now but i did what i had to do and i DONT feel bad for what i have done!!!! I just wish those neighbors of that little boy would have stepped up and done somthing… to anyone that feels like they should mind their own buisness……DONT not when it involves a hepless child. I am glad i didnt now my neighbor knows that there are people out there that do care!!!!!!
October 8th, 2007 at 6:48 am
acompton…..kudos to you! Yeah, it’s ALWAYS hard to live with the neighbor after making a phone call like you did, BUT it your neighbor was mature enough, she would see that you had the best intentions for the child’s sake. I don’t know your situation, your neighbors, etc, but maybe now you can approach your neighbor, ask her if she could join you and your child at the park for a picnic (with her child there as well of course), or at mcdonald’s (your treat maybe if you can afford to do so), and let her know that you would like to talk about all of this. If none of those things are possible, then at least let her know that you would like to discuss this further with her, then explain to her (if she’s willing to talk, not yell or fight) why you called, what your intentions were, etc. Offer your friendship to her, let her know that you are there to help her (in a realistic way of course) to help her if ever needs help (maybe “babysitting” once in awhile…for example, again, if you can handle it, to take her child with you and your child to the playground, so she can have an hour to sit quietly, etc). You need to let her know that you did not call the police on her just to be a nosey neighbor, etc. but because you were just concerned. Share your parenting experiences with her (“I know with johnny being 2 he can be a handful, my son is the same way and there are days I’d like to pull my hair out, but I know later in life we will sit back and laugh at all these little things”), maybe she is swamped in bills and you know of some agencies or resources available in your area that could help her, etc. Also be sure to set a good example for her, leave the curse words locked in a box (even if she’s screaming them in your face), interact positively to her and her kid (even though you may not want to, give her a smile and say hello to her and her child when you see them), compliment her child if given the opportunity to do so (if you and your child are playing together outside and you see her child come out, include the child in the play if you can, and compliment the child while two kids play together “I like how your both sharing with each other”, etc, or if you just see her child outside doing something positive, point it out to the child, and then tell mom that you really think it’s great that little johnny is riding his bike so well, that she must be proud of him picking that skill up so well (as an example) and that maybe he could help teach your child how to ride his bike). Yes, she will give you dirty looks, may dodge you, etc, and you will have to be consistant each time your around them with your behaviour, BUT, at some point she may give in, it could be that she’s just really stressed and feels that the world is against her and everything she does, if you give her something positive out of all of this, it could help to turn her attitude around to something more positive! Yes, it will be VERY hard to approach her, your walking into the lions den, BUT, it will show her that your a mature person who’s willing to do what you can for those around you, if she’s a hopeless cause, you’ll see that, but who knows, a positive friendship may bloom out of this, and she may find that she’s not alone after all! Let her know that you’ve heard her yelling on more then one occasion at her child in a way that was pretty harsh, and that you were concerned for the child, and that you yourself don’t want your child to hear another child being yelled at like that (for example, you’ll have to pick your words wisely to say this but I think you get what I mean). Just offer your friendship to her, it make take some time for her to get over her anger, but if she’s “worth the effort”, she’ll slowly come around. Good luck! Your right, at least now she knows that others are watching and listening! (I am surprised though that the cops allowed her to know who called on her, there are supposed to be privacy issues involved and cops aren’t allowed to expose to someone who called them out, it’s amazing how cops just don’t think before they open their mouths sometimes! But that’s okay, she probably would have found out at some point anyway, so it’s best to deal with it now and move on then to have it lingering in the background)
October 8th, 2007 at 6:57 am
Susan—
Thank you so much for such great advice!!! I will do my best to see a good outcome. I also appreciate the kudos…… some people made me feel like what i did was wrong but i know it wasnt.
acompton
October 8th, 2007 at 7:22 am
accompton….to those who said you were wrong for what you did, point them to this site so they can see for themselves what happens when no one wants to get involved, and tell them that you would rather have been wrong this time then to have had to live with NOT doing something had something worse happened later to this child! That’s what wrong with society now, we would all rather sit in our houses and not do anything to make this world a safer, better place for everyone, we always figure someone else somewhere is dealing with the “issues” so why should we get involved. We don’t have good role models anymore for our kids to look up….paris hilton is NOT a good role model, britney spears is FAR from being a role model on mothering, and sadly, these are the people our kids are looking up to! As parents, its OUR JOB to get involved and make this world something positive for our kids to be a part of, yeah, it’s not “leave it to beaver”’s world anymore, but gosh darnit, we can still live by the morals and values of the beaver! The people that want to dog you for calling should really take a look at themselves…..what have they turned their back on that they could have made a positive impact on? Could they themselves been able to live with themselves for not doing anything if a child would die around them because they didn’t get involved? I don’t like seeing people yell and curse at their kids in the grocery store, I ALWAYS walk up and diffuse the situation (I walked around the store once with a woman and her two kids, we shopped together, after she had been yelling and cursing at her kids to behave, I had the kids helping us put stuff in the carts, reading labels, etc, she actually thanked me and her kids wanted me to go to their house and play LOL), after all, humiliating the child in public and making yourself look like an ass doesn’t accomplish anything for those involved! I help as much as I can in my daughter’s daycare, the teachers always act like the room full of 3 year olds is too much too handle, and yet I walk in and the kids can’t stay away from me lol, I’m ALWAYS actively involved with what the kids are doing in the room, and I’m always offering positive reinforcements when they are acting well, and when some are fighting or annoying each other, I use kind words to remind them of how to act, I NEVER let the stress I may be feeling leak out to the kids…..they pick up on our EVERY emotion and they will “milk” it for all it’s worth, I explain this to the teachers all the time…..if your acting like you dont want to be here and your feeling stressed, then the kids aren’t going to want to be here and they will try to stress you out even more. Kids learn by example, so as a parent or anyone involved with kids should realize, the examples you set is the examples they will follow, kids want to be good before they want to be bad, bad behaviour is a taught way I feel, because it’s easy being bad, it takes effort to be good, so we should ALWAYS be aware as adults of our actions, words, etc, when around and dealing with kids and others around us! Kids are like sponges, so which would we rather have them soak up, good or bad? I hope it all works out well for you, keep a positive attitude!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Susan–
Thank you so much you have really made me feel alot better about this, even though i didnt feel like i did anything wrong you always have something sitting in the back of your mind asking if you did??? But now i know i can do alot more for people just by what you have taught me. Thank you so much!!!!!!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:39 am
oh and I’ve said this before on other parts of this site…..I feel it takes a “tribe” to raise a child, so as a society, we shouldn’t feel “afraid” or worry about getting involved in things that go on around us, especially concerning our children. I also live by the phrase “the earth is not ours, but borrowed from our children”, so really , what kind of future are we leaving for our children, their children, and so on when people don’t get more involved with issues around them? It’s really sad to think about at times!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:41 am
no problem, thats what most of us are here for, to make some kind of a difference, no matter how little it may seem, to those around us. Glad I could lift your spirits and share some insight with you, we’re all far from perfect, I know I am LOL. But it’s what we do that makes a difference!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:46 am
I couldnt agree with you more!!!!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:57 am
acompton – I think you did the right thing. You just never know what could have been going on with that child. I called CPS on a neighbor on time. She would drive drunk with her 9 year old daughter. I would see them get out of the car (around midnight every night) and she could barely stagger to her house. The little one had to help her to the house and then help her to unlock the door. Some nights I could just hear her yelling obscene things a the little girl. Anyhow – One night I decided enough was enough. Come to find out – They wound up investigating her for child porn. WTF??? I got into a physical altercation with her a couple of days later because she knew it had to be me that called. I could have stomped that bitch for what I KNEW she was doing to her daughter. Anyhow – I had to move to get away from that crazy bitch. Just think though – If I didn’t make the call – Who knows what would have happened? Also – It turned out that she was taking the little girl to bars and making her lay down in the car while she went in and got drunk. WHo does that. The little girl was such a beautiful and smart little girl. I wish I could have snatched her away from that crazy…….
October 8th, 2007 at 8:01 am
April Rj–
Thank you so much, its really nice to know that i am not the only one out there that feels the same way…. And you also did the right thing too i am so glad you called… i wonder what happened to that little girl and her mother, i hope everything is okay?
October 8th, 2007 at 8:12 am
I have heard stories. Who knows. The mother is supposed to have quit drinking. They porn thing they couldn’t prove. I believe that if it wasn’t porn – The mom could have been “selling” her. Strange men were always coming over to pick her up and take her places (overnight sometimes). Now you know why I nearly stomped the shit out of the mother. I am by no means a violent person but she caused me to have this “blind fury”. Not even the thought of jail stopped me from wanting to smash her face in!! Scary, huh??? Now you know why I moved. The girl is 14 now and I hear she got pregnant by her 16 year old boyfriend. BLEH!! That little girl would come to my house when I first had my son. She had a strange obsession with him. I really hoped her life ended up better. Then again – This is all stuff that I hear from my old neighbors…
I do believe that people she get involved. If nothing else – People will know that they are being watched and that alone might save a child’s life…
October 8th, 2007 at 8:16 am
April Rj–
That is too bad, i hope that little girl will be okay. Yeah i hope my neighbor and everyone else that needs to be watched knows that they will always be watched… Thanks for the support
October 8th, 2007 at 11:15 am
the earth is not ours, but borrowed from our children
Susan, you know we rarely agree (tho we have had many stimulating, intelligent debates here) but this is beautifully stated. It really sums it all up!!!
I also agree with your advice with acompton’s neighbor. I would start with offering to send her the website that prompted you to call, and then invite her to a play or lunch date after she’s had some time to look at it.
She will probably see you differntly without you having to explain. If she is a caring mother who just had a few bumps in the road she would likely look here and go, “Oh, well no wonder!”
August 5th, 2008 at 5:38 am
[...] Link2 Couple Frequently Abandons Child to Party [...]