Druggie dad with joint custody "loses" 2-year-old son (Prescott, Arizona)

UNNAMED DAD is a druggie who stays up all night playing video games, then sleeps all day. He "loses" his 2-year-old son who is found wandering alone on a bridge, but Daddy didn't even realize he was gone until he was contacted. Sure, there are always neglectful parents. But why are dads like this one being granted joint custody? Why are mothers being required to endanger their children by putting them in the care of clueless, immature idiots? And why isn't this guy in jail for his actions? Fathers rights, that's why.

http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=101674

12/31/2011 9:55:00 PM

Prescott man may face charges of child abuse after toddler son found walking alone on bridge

Lisa Irish
The Daily Courier

A Prescott man who allegedly told police he was up all night smoking potpourri and bath salts faces possible child abuse charges after his 2-year-old son was found walking alone on a bridge on Dec. 23.

"The report was forwarded to the Yavapai County Attorney's Office for review of possible felony child abuse charges," said Prescott Police Lt. Andy Reinhardt, who added that the man has not been arrested or cited, and the possible charges could be determined later to be misdemeanors.

The man's name is not included in this story per Courier policy not to identify people who haven't been arrested or cited, or who are charged with misdemeanors.

Shortly after 3 p.m., an officer answered a call about a young boy who had been found walking in a roadway, and spoke with a man who said he was driving on Country Club Circle when he saw a small child walking in the middle of a bridge near Thumb Butte Road. The bridge is over a 10-foot drop onto a partially filled creek. The man picked up the boy, pulled into an apartment parking lot nearby, and asked if anyone recognized the child. After 10 minutes of trying to find the boy's parents, he called police, Reinhardt said.

The boy wasn't able to show the officer where he lived, but three boys who saw the officer carrying the child took him to an apartment where they thought the boy lived.

When the officer knocked on the door, the man who answered said, "Oh, there he is," according to the police report.

The man allegedly told the officer he did not know his son was missing because he was asleep on the couch, and that he shares custody of the boy with his ex-wife, who had dropped the son off that morning.

The man told the officer that he gave his son a glass of chocolate milk, then laid back on the couch, fell asleep, and woke up when the officer knocked on his door. He said the boy had gotten out of the apartment several times before and that the doors had child safety devices, but that the boy may have left through a sliding glass door because the pin was not engaged.

When the officer, who allegedly saw a box cutter and meat cleaver on a table and a sheathed knife on the floor, asked if the man had worked last night, the man said no, he had been up all night playing video games.

Another officer called the boy's mother to come pick him up and also called Child Protective Services, which is investigating the incident, Reinhardt said.When the officer noticed a glass pipe, bong, and bowl with a green leafy substance that smelled like spice, the man allegedly said he had been smoking potpourri and bath salts.