Aiden agreed to walk home; after all, it was something he had done many times. There are sidewalks the entire way, and practically zero traffic.
But 15 minutes later, two cops knocked on Wallace's door. Her son was in their patrol car. Another officer was parked across the street.
A woman one block away had called the cops to report a boy walking outside alone. That lady had actually asked Aiden where he lived, verified that it was just down the street, and proceeded to call nonetheless. The cops picked up Aiden on his own block.
As they stood on her porch, the officers told Wallace that her son could have been kidnapped and sex trafficked. "'You don't see much sex trafficking where you are, but where I patrol in downtown Waco, we do,'" said one of the cops, according to Wallace.
This statement struck her as odd.
"They were basically admitting that this is a safe neighborhood," she says.
The officer then asked Wallace whether she would let her son walk home again, now that she knew about the sex trafficking.
"I still didn't know it was illegal and I said, 'I don't know,'" says Wallace. "That's when the cop replied, 'Okay, I'm going to have to arrest you.'"
He proceeded to do so in front of the kids, handcuffing Wallace behind her back.
reason.com
But 15 minutes later, two cops knocked on Wallace's door. Her son was in their patrol car. Another officer was parked across the street.
A woman one block away had called the cops to report a boy walking outside alone. That lady had actually asked Aiden where he lived, verified that it was just down the street, and proceeded to call nonetheless. The cops picked up Aiden on his own block.
As they stood on her porch, the officers told Wallace that her son could have been kidnapped and sex trafficked. "'You don't see much sex trafficking where you are, but where I patrol in downtown Waco, we do,'" said one of the cops, according to Wallace.
This statement struck her as odd.
"They were basically admitting that this is a safe neighborhood," she says.
The officer then asked Wallace whether she would let her son walk home again, now that she knew about the sex trafficking.
"I still didn't know it was illegal and I said, 'I don't know,'" says Wallace. "That's when the cop replied, 'Okay, I'm going to have to arrest you.'"
He proceeded to do so in front of the kids, handcuffing Wallace behind her back.
Suburban mom handcuffed, jailed for making 8-year-old son walk half a mile home
Heather Wallace's oldest son, 8-year-old Aiden, was driving his two brothers crazy in the car as they all returned from karate one afternoon in October
reason.com
