Facebook Gamer Who Let Son Drown Gets 10 Years

vansau

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May 25, 2010
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Facebook Gamer Who Let Son Drown Gets 10 Years



It shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that letting your kid drown while you play Facebook games will net you ten years in prison.

Last September, a Colorado woman' thirteen-month-old son drowned in a bathtub while she was playing a Facebook game. Since then, she plead guilty to the charges filed against her and has just been sentenced. Her punishment? Ten years in prison.

Shannon Johnson, 34, claims that she didn't want her son, Joseph, to grow up as a "mama's boy" and was an "independent" toddler who didn't need adult supervision. As a result, she put him in his bath and then left him alone so she could start up her PC in the other room and play Café World on Facebook. When she returned "about ten minutes" later, she found Joseph drowning and making gurgling noises. When Johnson called 911, EMS workers managed to get the child airlifted to a local hospital, but doctors weren't able to save him.

Johnson has accepted responsibility for her actions, which she described as "so stupid", and isn't trying to blame the game in some way so she can try to wriggle out of trouble. Last month, she entered a guilty plea for negligent child abuse ending in death; but when she was handed a sentence of ten years in prison, she tried to soften penalty by appealing to the judge:

"I know I made a huge mistake leaving him unattended, and for that I will always hate myself. There has been [sic] four infant-toddler drownings in Colorado, since January 1. Every time I hear of one, it's like rubbing salt into a wound. I want to reach out to people and want people to learn from my mistake, and I don't want others to walk a mile in my shoes."

Johnson's words had no affect on the sentencing. She's still facing ten years in prison with another five years of mandatory parole after she's released.

There are way too many of these kinds of stories these days, meaning that there's more than zero. They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm sure this isn't the last story I'll write on this topic.

Source: Geek

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Feb 13, 2008
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vansau said:
There are way too many of these kinds of stories these days, meaning that there's more than zero. They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
Personally, I'd be happier if the woman wasn't described as "Facebook Gamer", which is just a preference, and rather as "Cold Hearted *****" - which is more of a reason.
 

beema

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At least she isn't blaming games for her problems, like so many others seem to do in these tragic situations.
Still, there's no real happy ending possible for a story like this.
 

Legion

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Oct 2, 2008
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vansau said:
They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
This last sentence seems oddly inappropriate considering it's about somebody drowning, is the Escapist dabbling in darker humour or was that just overlooked?
 

Celtic_Kerr

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The_root_of_all_evil said:
vansau said:
There are way too many of these kinds of stories these days, meaning that there's more than zero. They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
Personally, I'd be happier if the woman wasn't described as "Facebook Gamer", which is just a preference, and rather as "Cold Hearted *****" - which is more of a reason.
I do have to agree with you that she's a cold hearted ***** for letting her son drown while she played video games. On the other hand, I have to tip my hat for her not screaming about that video game and how addictive it is and how it wasn't her fault.

In the long run, it doesn't excuse her actions at all
 

Tzekelkan

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The_root_of_all_evil said:
vansau said:
There are way too many of these kinds of stories these days, meaning that there's more than zero. They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
Personally, I'd be happier if the woman wasn't described as "Facebook Gamer", which is just a preference, and rather as "Cold Hearted *****" - which is more of a reason.
Exactly. If she herself isn't blaming or even mentioning the game, why are we calling her a gamer? If she had been ironing shirts in the other room while the kid drowned, would the headline be "Shirt Ironing Woman Who Let Son Drown Gets 10 Years"?

She's not a cold hearted *****. Just a dumb parent, and those aren't exactly rare. This getting coverage because a game is somehow involved is sickening. It's exactly - exactly - like the fun times we used to have with Jack Thompson: confusing correlation with causation and damaging the image of gamers in the eyes of the non-gaming public.
 

vansau

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May 25, 2010
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Legion said:
vansau said:
They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
This last sentence seems oddly inappropriate considering it's about somebody drowning, is the Escapist dabbling in darker humour or was that just overlooked?
That was just overlooked. I'll change it.
 

Celtic_Kerr

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Tzekelkan said:
The_root_of_all_evil said:
vansau said:
There are way too many of these kinds of stories these days, meaning that there's more than zero. They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
Personally, I'd be happier if the woman wasn't described as "Facebook Gamer", which is just a preference, and rather as "Cold Hearted *****" - which is more of a reason.
Exactly. If she herself isn't blaming or even mentioning the game, why are we calling her a gamer? If she had been ironing shirts in the other room while the kid drowned, would the headline be "Shirt Ironing Woman Who Let Son Drown Gets 10 Years"?

She's not a cold hearted *****. Just a dumb parent, and those aren't exactly rare. This getting coverage because a game is somehow involved is sickening. It's exactly - exactly - like the fun times we used to have with Jack Thompson: confusing correlation with causation and damaging the image of gamers in the eyes of the non-gaming public.
Personally I find the cold hearted ***** statement is more because she thought she was gonna turn her son into a mama's boy by spending just enough time to wash him in a bath tub.

Cuddling him all the time, not letting him do ANYTHING by themselves (notice the word dangerous isn't included), such things turn your son into a mama's boy, and even then not with a 100% effective rate. Not taking the time to wash your son is just careless parenting.
 

Legion

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Oct 2, 2008
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vansau said:
Legion said:
vansau said:
They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
This last sentence seems oddly inappropriate considering it's about somebody drowning, is the Escapist dabbling in darker humour or was that just overlooked?
That was just overlooked. I'll change it.
Fair enough, I wasn't offended at all, I just thought I'd point it out as some people may have taken it for humour, I didn't want people to start getting accusatory over it.
 

awesomeClaw

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vansau said:
Legion said:
vansau said:
They're tragic and appalling and the only good thing that might come about from them is some other parents might have a revelation that kids come before games. That said, I'm not holding my breath.
This last sentence seems oddly inappropriate considering it's about somebody drowning, is the Escapist dabbling in darker humour or was that just overlooked?
That was just overlooked. I'll change it.
No, don´t do that, it was kind of funny! Dammit.

OT: I´m going to wrap up my opinion with three words: "What a *****/idiot."
 

Veldel

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Good redence let the ***** rot in prison she duesnt deserve anything.





CAPTCHA: Mengl's Offich
Da Fuck is that even mean
 

Tulks

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llamaquest101 said:
Wow only in america eh, and such a crap game as well.
Don't be so sure - it's not like we've never had anything similar in the UK.
As said above, the only standout feature of this case is that she was distracted by a game, rather than a TV programme, crossword, randy milkman, or whatever.
 

Stammer

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This is tragic, but I find it hard to feel mad at this woman because it seemed like more of a casual accident than because of complete and utter negligence. It's not like her son starved to death because she'd been playing WoW for 72 straight hours.

What I find to be even worse is the fact that she's got 10 years for this, while someone who kills someone deliberately (or maybe under the influence of some kind of substance) only gets a couple of months to a couple of years.
 

scw55

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It's very tragic :<

But common sense says that toddlers HAVE to be mamma's boys. I understand the need to not want to be over protective but... christ, I was an idiot till I was 21 years of age, perhaps still one.

I do feel sorry for her, even though it's her fault. Must be horrible losing your own child :<