Official: Mom leaves mentally disabled daughter at bar, refuses to retrieve her

[SunSeeker]

Source: CNN

An Illinois woman who left her mentally disabled daughter outside a Tennessee bar cannot be charged with a crime, police said Tuesday. Police in Caryville, Tennessee, said the daughter is 19 and not assigned to a legal guardian. "As terrible as it is, unfortunately there is nothing we can do," Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Smith said. "There is no doubt we need a law for mental health rights, but pending this investigation, we just don't know what else to do."

According to police, Eva Cameron stopped at the Big Orange Bar in Caryville on June 28 when her daughter, Lynn, needed to use the restroom.
...
Eva Cameron told the Northwest Herald newspaper in Illinois that she brought Lynn to Caryville because of its concentration of Baptists and because Tennessee has the "No. 1 health care system in the United States of America."
...
Authorities said Lynn Cameron is being cared for at a facility in Roane County. When asked how the young woman is doing, Smith replied, "Lynn is doing fantastic."




Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/10/us/mother-abandons-disabled-daughter/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[roguevalley]

1. reminds me of the little four year old girl found abandoned on an athens street

with a note that says 'we cannot keep her' during that bloodbath of their economy a while back.

it is an awful world we are living in. I feel for all of them.

[SunSeeker]

4. Awful indeed. The mom has another, younger, disabled child at home.

The mom was clearly overwhelmed, and there was apparently an inadequate safety net in her home state. Amazing that Tennessee's safety net had enough of a reputation for the mom to travel there. It appears the 19 year old is finally getting the care she needs now that she is a ward of the state.

[roguevalley]

13. I don't live her life. I can't judge. She did try to find a good place for her.

She will never have a day in her life where she can relax or choose her own path. I wish them all well.

[elleng]

2. 'Tennessee has the "No. 1 health care system in the United States of America?"'

[Brother Buzz]

3. Best health care system money can buy; Steve Jobs flew to Tennessee for his new liver

[crim son]

6. Is that so?

I never would have imagined it!

[FrodosPet]

7. No doubt!

The South is full of redneck teabaggers who all sound like "Larry The Cable Guy".

Do they even HAVE doctors down there? I thought it was a state full of Ernest Angleys shouting "Heal!" and smacking people on the forehead.

(In a world full of changes, it is comforting to see that region bashing is alive and well on DU!)

[PavePusher]

9. Hell, it's almost the favorite sport here. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

8. Vanderbilt University and Medical Center

[Javaman]

5. That jumped out at me as well. nt

[wordpix]

10. looks like this mom never cared for daughter - look at the teeth and hair

[riderinthestorm]

11. She was dropped off June 28, so her hair has been under state care for almost 3 weeks

I'm going to guess she doesn't want it touched and or combed.

Furthermore, I would never judge whether a parent was taking care of their mentally disabled child by the orthodonture of their teeth. FWIW, the teeth look clean and healthy. Putting braces on a mentally disabled child would probably be very, very tough. The pain of adjustments alone (let alone having teeth pulled so others can be aligned) would be really hard for them to understand and cope with. Unless her teeth were giving her real trouble eating, I'd guess its probably better to let that one be.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. Mothers are overwhelmed.

I have a friend with a 35-year old autistic retarded daughter. The father refuses to pay over $100,000 in child support. He is well off.

She told me that she has had friends with autistic children who drop dead from the stress.

My friend will not put her daughter in a group home because they put the women on birth control, do not segregate the sexes and let the men rape them at will, at least in Texas.