Going Parental: Bathtime photos land parents in jail

I’ve been taking photos of my daughter non-stop since the moment she was born. I have always loved photography and I happen to have a pretty cute kid that loves the camera.  Her first bath is on video, as well as captured by still photographs. Who knew that what I was doing could have led to her being taken away ^[1] from me?

Unfortunately for Lisa and Anthony Demaree, that is exactly what happened. Blogs are abuzz and it sounds like the state of Arizona and Walmart are about to pay the price. Lawsuits against both have been filed and rightly so in my opinion.

Taking bathtime photos of their children — ages 5, 4 and 18 months, while on vacation in San Diego, resulted in the removal of their children from their home. Why, you ask? Because a Walmart employee thought the photos were pornographic and called the police.

Clearly, there is a severe distinction between child pornography and parents taking pictures of their kids in the tub or running around naked in the sprinkler on a hot summer day. My daughter is a fan of wearing a tutu and nothing else. This is hilarious to her. She’s three. These are kids! They do funny shit and you’re going to photograph as much of it as you can.

What happened to the Demarees and their children is terrifying. This could have happened to any one of us. The emotional distress and public scrutiny they have had to endure is tantamount to harassment. They were kept away from their children for days and didn’t regain custody for a month. Lisa Demaree was suspended from her school job for a year and both of their names were placed on the sex offender’s registry ^[2].

Luckily, no charges were brought against them and the case was ultimately dismissed when the state finally realized they were being complete douche bags. I’m sure the Demarees were ecstatic, no — jumping for joy. Sweet freedom was theirs again — and only at the greatest price imaginable. To live with the fear that your children may be taken from you for just one minute, is to endure a level of torture words fail to describe. To live for thirty days with this feeling? That is a crime, and in this case, the state of Arizona is the criminal. I hope the Demarees get millions. I hope Walmart and the state of Arizona choke on their apologies that accompany those checks.

The government needs to start using its own brain instead of the brain of some random Walmart employee. Go and spend the state’s tax dollars hunting down the real threats out there. There are hundreds of thousands of perverts and pedophiles out there for you to lock up and you choose to go after Ozzie and Harriet? Where is your brain Arizona?

Protecting your child is the most important thing a parent can do. Child pornography is never to be taken lightly and should always be investigated when just cause is found.

Does anyone think there was really just cause here? Did the authorities really view the Demaree’s photos of tub time and think that they were dealing with child pornographers? As a parent, is it possible to fathom the idea that protecting our children has gone too far ^[3]? As a society, are we partly to blame for this? And as a government, where do you draw the line?

Going Parental appears every Thursday. Walmart employees never seem to appear when you need them.