Mentally ill boy sentenced for thinking about a crime, what do you think ??

Happyflowerlady

Happyflowerlady

Vagabond Flowerchild
Location
Northern Alabama
I was reading the morning news, and just read an article about a young Missouri man who was turned in to law enforcement by his mother, when she discovered that he had bought an assault weapon.
The 20 year old told police that he was going to use the rifle to shoot up a local theater, and then a Walmart, and just keep shooting until the police came.
His parents had sought treatment for their son since he was a youngster, and he was on medications and diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome.

So, I can see both sides of this situation.
His parents feel like they did the right thing, since by being arrested and put in prison, he is still alive, and hasn't killed any other people.
However, this boy has not actually COMMITTED any crime, he just thought about doing it. And they are not sending him to a mental institution, they are sentencing him to prison.

As a parent, I can see that this would be an agonizing decision to have to make, to turn in your child, especially on just the possibility that he would actually carry out the crime.
But, it seems like more and more often, school age children are somehow getting weapons, and then carrying out senseless shootings in public places; so not turning him in could have brought tragic consequences as well.

What would you have done if this was your son ???

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/21/blaec-lammers-alleged-twi_n_2170148.html
 
He DID commit a crime.

He was making terroristic threats.

He's 20 years old, no longer a child, and I'm sorry if he's mentally ill but that pretty much fits the profile for these shooters.

I say put him away. He's got priors of terrorist threats as well, and I think his mother did the right thing. For once, someone has shown common sense, even though I'm sure it was painful to her.

Not quite as painful as knowing your son just killed several people, though.
 
I would have turned him in with a very broken heart. The threats in addition to his mental illness would have scared me into contacting authorities to save lives and prevent a far worse situation. They did it to save not only others, but saved him from himself. I know they must be gut wrenched to have to do it and my heart goes out to them. What a terribly sad story, but they did the right thing.
 
I would have turned him in also, and the mother must have believed that he actually was capable of doing this kind of crazy behavior, especially when she found out that he had gone to the extent of actually buying a weapon to do the shooting.
As with most of the shooters today, he was on medications for his mental instability.
I would rather know my child was in prison, but alive, than have killed innocent people, and then either shot himself or was killed by law enforcement.

I think that putting him into a mental institution might be a better idea than just dumping him in prison though, since it is clearly some kind of mental imbalance there, and maybe he could be treated for the problem.
Just locking him up for a few years probably won't cure whatever is wrong in his brain.

Still, I don't like the direction that this is heading, and think that it could get out of hand, as far as who is actually a threat, and who is not.
If we complain about the government, are we becoming a terrorist as well ?? Sometimes, it seem like this is the direction that things are heading here in America.
 
If he's mentally ill, treatment is more important than a jail cell. Surprised the cops didn't just shoot him. Very popular these daze...
 
There was a segment on 60 Minutes the other day about how the mentally I'll have such a tough time getting the help they need because of insurance and legal limitations.The segment focused on VA State senator Creigh Deeds and his son. His son stabbed him in the face and other areas before killing himself.

Google Sen Creigh Deeds and 60 Minutes and the link to the video comes up. I'm on my tablet and don't know how to copy the link and paste it here. A sad story but shows some of the problems we have with respect to the mentally ill.
 
Let's all hope Missouri has a decent physcological program in their prison system, since they more than likely will be letting him out before too long. I think the actions taken will just make him angrier, and most prisoners come out better informed on how to carry out whatever their initial intentions were in the first place.
 
Prison is just college for the bad guys, granted, but at least it's a bit more secure than letting them out on supervised release or some other silly program.

And i think that the hope of his meds kicking in is an empty one - they didn't work for all the years he's already been on them, why would they work now? And even if they did, by being administered directly by a few burly attendants, how will that work when they release him a year or two from now?

Bring back the work houses and the institutions, says I ... better to hide the problem than have it manifest in public amongst innocents.
 
To answer the question posted by the original poster "What would you have done if this was your son ???"

I too would have been alarmed enough to alert the authorities.

We all live as a group in our society. Even though we may not personally know the vast majority of those people, we still are obligated to do whatever is necessary to ensure their safety, when we alone possess knowledge of imminent danger.
 
No story on where the girl's parents are - maybe they're the ones that gave her the plate in her head?

That grandma's picture looks like a casting shot for "Evil Grandmother".
 
I am sorry but I believe putting him on medication to begin with,was a bad move,as that only makes them worse,
most likely a lot of bullying at school would not have helped him either,and the fact that it is so easy to get guns there.
our 14 year old grandson with aspergers is a most loving lad,and is not on medication for his problem,he has been helped a lot by special school he was sent to 3 times a week,although he does get teased by the kids at the normal school which doesn't help.
We also have a high functioning Autistic grandchild, who is also very loving and has had a lot of help from various government agencies ,he is very clever as well, he is not on medication either.
I admit they can have anger problems but that is only natural if you cannot get people to understand what you are thinking and feeling.
Bill Gates is Autistic, and they havent locked him up yet.
I think there should be special homes for them where they get loving care not prison.
 
nan said:
Bill Gates is Autistic, and they havent locked him up yet.
Click to expand...

Nan, I'm not sure that it's been proven that Gates is Autistic / Asperger's. A few of his behaviors have been cherry-picked and used as proof that he is, but that's a long way from a real diagnosis.

The great Nora Ephron wrote an email to a friend about the autism spectrum shortly before her death. "Is every man in American somewhere on it?", she asked. "“Is every producer on it? Is every 8-year-old boy who is obsessed with statistics on it? Sometimes, when we say someone is on the spectrum, do we just mean he’s a prick? Or a pathological narcissist? I notice that at least three times a week I am told (or I tell someone) that some man or other is on the spectrum.”

I see the random labeling as being just another example of every generation having a favorite affliction to blame. In the '50's it was frigid women; in the go-go '90's it was narcissism. I self-diagnose as being OCD, but I know that technically I am not.

We've been sold on various ailments so that the medical and pharmaceutical industries can prosper. That doesn't mean we all have whatever is popular at the moment. Children have been thrown into ADD/ADHD categories merely for behaving like children. If you tell someone you like yourself (in contrast to the vast majority of self-haters), you're labeled a narcissist.

I DO salute you for your decision not to place your grandchildren on meds - organic solutions are always preferable.
 
You really do have to live with a child that is on the spectrum to know that they are different to so called normal children,the high functioning ones are very hard to diagnose, as they are very clever in a lot of ways,but at the same time they know that they are different as well.
 
I have lived with them 24/7 and I have worked with them in a professional capacity.

I maintain that some were misdiagnosed. A goodly number, in fact. When 2/3 of a grade-school class is on Ritalin, Zoloft and/or any of the dozens of other SSRI's, anti-psychotics, anti-convulsives or stimulants then there is something fundamentally wrong - or corrupt - with the diagnostic system.
 
Fad of the decade here is Depression.
Anybody admitting they're not ecstatic about failing to possess a yacht, Ferrari or mansion is medicated for depression.

Anyone too lazy to find a job and keep it must have some mental disability because everybody 'normal' wants to work for a living so they qualify for a 'disability pension.'
Poor things are depressed. Obviously. They act out their mental derangement by spending their days in clubs, pubs or surfing the arse out of the coastline.

Even worse, depression is genetic! Generations of some families succumb to welfare induced depression close to the date they leave school. They get depressed that their parents are apparently.
They are of course suitably medicated with money and so go on to lead reasonably comfortable but sooooo disadvantaged lives.

... now where's a suitable smiley?... mmmm might pinch this one.
irony.gif
:cool:

The biggest problem that fad brings is that people who really are dangerously depressed are overlooked. They're working, they don't count. They aren't looking for a freebie lifestyle so they keep their heads down and don't seek help at all.

It's all part of the PC disease of assuming one size fits all. Psychos walk among us because their rights are given priority over ours.
A son here was exhibiting all the signs of the one that started this thread. He was put on 'schizo' meds etc but showed little improvement. He constantly threatened his family and they were terrified of him and reported him to authorities.
Nothing happened.
Until he murdered his sister and father at the dinner table then felt just plain bloody awful for having done it. Poor boy.

But that's okay, he couldn't help it could he? He had a mental problem, not his fault. Nothing to have locked him for nothing over was it? Can't go round locking nutters up over threats can we now? Tch. We should be more tolerant. After all threats weren't illegal were they? Must be tolerant of psychos and trust their shrinks when they prescribe meds they seldom take.

I met a woman at a seminar for carers who was a basket case. The woman was desperate because her teenage daughter was bi-polar and had often beaten her up. There wasn't a damned thing she could do about it! The 'child' couldn't be locked up. Couldn't be sent away from the home as that would have landed the mother in jail for 'neglect'. That woman lived in terror and locked herself, not the wacko daughter but herself, in a room with reinforced doors and bars on the windows whenever the daughter exhibited 'strange' behaviour. The neighbours had to make their own arrangements because there wasn't anything they could do about it either. That kid had all the 'Rights'!!
Never met her again but think of her. OMG what a position to be in!!
 
Congratulation to the Parents, Finally someone who stops a potential tragedy happening.
How many times have we seen innocent people slain, the killer go to trial with a plead of
Guilty, With reason i was temporary Insane.
I hope this will bring a lot more people to the forefront to do the same thing!
 
SifuPhil said:
I have lived with them 24/7 and I have worked with them in a professional capacity.

I maintain that some were misdiagnosed. A goodly number, in fact. When 2/3 of a grade-school class is on Ritalin, Zoloft and/or any of the dozens of other SSRI's, anti-psychotics, anti-convulsives or stimulants then there is something fundamentally wrong - or corrupt - with the diagnostic system.
Click to expand...

I agree with you phil,the trouble is its just all to easy to put them on anti- psychotics and other meds as you mentioned,and not try treating them with natural means first.

a good article to see articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/1/autism-spectrum.aspx
 
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