Maddie.......Who do you blame .....?

[soobet]

Think about this.....We left our three children alone in a hotel room while we went to the pub, the patio doors were open, luckily they never bothered to try and climb the balcony rail. and fall to their death However my three year old got out of bed and was playing with paper and the electrical sockets. She set the room on fire and is now fighting for her life.....

Yes !! thinking what im thinking ?

We would be responsible for this and if the above were true now we would have been arrested.

I cannot begin to imagine why anyone would leave children alone like that any number of things could have happened to those children. The parents are suffering now and my heart goes out to them and the little girl (God Love Her) but they are totally to blame for all this

[Neilzulu1]

No, they are to blame for a stupid mistake. Not for some person to abduct Maddie.

[IggyB]

well said Neil - saying they are "totally" to blame is clearly absolutely ridiculous

[B00]

i find it revolting how people are placing the blame solely on the parents. They made a very fatal judgement of error, one that whatever the outcome, they'll regret for the rest of their lives.

Were they wrong to leave their children alone in the room? Yes, but please let's not them the main villains in this case.

[mrrobbo15]

well sed BOO........

totally agree

[naomi24]

I agree Boo. Of course they shouldn't have left little children alone, but no one is sorrier than them.

[feist]

I blame the parents to some extent though obviously the abductor is the criminal party here...
Portugal's lax laws towards paeodophilia also mean such crimes happen on a frequent basis in their country and are often left unresolved.
As for the police there, I'm not sure how competent they are...

[pussnboots]

There has been a lot of discussion about this on different sites here on AB. The parents made a judgement that they thought was OK at the time, they must have weighed up their options and decided that as long as they checked on them at regular intervals then no harm could come of them. How on earth could they ever imagine that some monster would break in and take one of their children, there has been instances here in this country

1. A child was taken from her bath whilst the parents were still in the house.

2. A child was snatched through a caravan window also while the parents were there.

You can never in your wildest dreams make every child in the world completely safe while there are evil people willing to go to any lengths to get your child. My heart goes out to the parents in this case and to all parents who have a missing child, it is your worst nightmare.

[Le Chat]

It would seem though, that this practice is normal over there. They have baby sitters and baby patrollers, who just walk around and listen in at the door. So over the years hundreds of parents must have done this, it's just that either no one on the AB has, or no one wants to admit that 'there but for the grace of God, go I!'
I wouldn't do it myself because I wouldn't be able to sit, relax and eat a meal if my 3 yr old was alone, I would have no peace of mind whatsoever!!
My parents used to leave us in hotels, whilst they were dining (in the hotel) and the baby patroller was around. Mind you that was about 32 yrs ago - I was about 10 - and times have changed..or is it that we just know more now?

[pussnboots]

The baby patrollers would have not made any difference here, the people who took Maddie would have watched them as well and waited until they had gone. It is obvious that they had been watching this family for a while.

[stokeace]

now i feel really sorry for the family and for the little girl [god bless her] and i truly hope that this turns out the right way and that she is returned soon to her family and the b***ards who took her are brought to justice.but do you think there would have been so much media coverage if this was the child of say a british ethnic minoroty family?

[Lonnie]

I know both parents are suffering, the mother will have this with her for the rest of her life, finger pointing, whispering etc, I think we should leave them alone while the search is stiull ongoing.

Having said that, I was listening to the radio, Paul Condon, ex Police Commissioner was speaking, now this may not be the case, but he thinks its a crime of oppertunism. the parents left the doors open, sniffer dogs picked up Maddies scent, and lost it at the supermarket. he thinks she woke up, walked to the supermarket, where someone saw her and snatched her.

[ludwig]

I blame the abductor(s) 100%, just like when someone gets raped I blame the rapist.

[spudqueen]

How the parents will ever get over this, whether Maddy is found or not, I just don't know. I bet they'll never leave their children again. I can't understand though two apparently intelligent people leaving those children. If it had been Mr Spudqueen and I one of us would have gone out for the meal, the other one would have stayed with the children. As we have never had babysitters on tap we usually go out seperately - it's the only way we could have (and have had) a social life. It's not ideal - there are plenty of times we would have liked to have gone out together but there's no way we would have left our children, even when they were a lot older than the McCann children.

[redcrx]

the parents made a terrible mistake.
Surely the focus should be on getting madeleine home safe and the abductors caught rather than passing judgement on her parents.
Do you not think they will be suffering enough right now????

[Reverandfunk]

Personally I do think the parents are totally to blame. Their gross negligence is the cause.

So by saying they are not to blame who exactly is? Could someone tell me what the laws are in this country regarding the ages for leaving children unsupervised.

If this was in the UK the headlines would read "Home alone toddler abducted whilst parents on the lash".

This whole sorry story should never have happened and let's not forget that the parents had been leaving the kids alone ALL week while they were in a restaurant that you could exactly call close.

[Reverandfunk]

Couldnt call close

[sp1814]

From what I've seen, the restaurant was only about 50 yards from the apartment.

It would've had to be very close in order for them to keep going back to check on the kids.

Also, from what I've read in the papers, this sort of crime is practically unheard of in that part of the country...the resort is very family-oriented, which possibly lulled the parents into a false sense of security.

In life, you are constantly performing risk assessment - even subconsciously...and their assessment on this occasion just proved to be horribly wrong.

[netibiza]

We all know that there are unsavoury people about,and it is our duty to protect our children because of this, until they are old enough to look after themselves. The parents did not take enough precautions, thus a crime was committed. If the bank left the doors unlocked and all your money was stolen, wouldn't you blame the bank? of course you would. Having said this, the parents must be going through hell, I wish a speedy and happy ending to this crime. Please don't let Maddie be suffering.

[B00]

In answer the the reverand up there when he asked if not the parents then who is totally to blame? Wouldn't that be whoever snatched the child then? You don't lay any blame on him/her/them?

[netibiza]

BOO But the abductor wouldn't have been able to commit this crime had the parents taken proper precautions. Of course the abductor is as much to blame, but two wrongs don't make a right.