E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSIn Philadelphia, Penn., a mother was issued a $50 public urination citation after her 2-year-old son peed on the street. WCAU's Doug Shimell reports.
A Philadelphia mom is peeved that police gave her a $50 ticket after her 2-year-old son peed against a street light post.
“I’m absolutely going to fight it,” Caroline Robboy told NBC News on Thursday. “It was a potty-training accident.”
Robboy’s legal hassle began Sunday night, she said, when she was out with her elderly in-laws and her three children, ages 9, 6 and 2. Her husband, an ob-gyn, was on the job, delivering babies.
After eating at a Johnny Rockets diner five blocks from their home in a high-rise, the family went across the street to a clothing store.
Robboy said two of her children told her they needed to go to the bathroom, but the store operators wouldn’t let them use their restroom. They headed back to the diner, but the 2-year-old couldn’t hold it.
“I told him to go over to a grassy patch and make pee,” Robboy told NBCPhiladelphia.com. “Next thing you know I have an officer giving me a police ticket for public urination!”
Related: Is potty training on the go a no-no?
“Every once in a while a 2-year-old catches you off guard,” she said.
“If this were my 9-year-old or 6-year-old I would have been mortified and would have had a much more adult conversation with him,” said Robboy, a licensed social worker and sex education counselor also trained in early childhood education issues.
Robboy said she's been surprised by the strong criticism painting her as "some negligent parent" that readers posted on a story about the incident that appeared on NBCPhiladelphia.com.
“These people must not be parents – or maybe they are suburban parents,” she said. “We live with homeless people sleeping in our park across the street,” she said. “People defecate in the park, they don’t get tickets.”
Among the comments was this one from a poster identified as James Riggio Sr.: “I do not care if it is a 2-year-old or a 20-year-old, urine stinks and I for one do not want to smell that while in a high-traffic area. Does this moron of a mother think it is OK to let her son pee anywhere they feel free to?”
Stay informed with the latest headlines; sign up for our newsletter
Another critic identified as Laura Burger said, “I'm sorry but a 2-year-old does not just spontaneously run and pee on a pole. Clearly not the first time. I also think mom needs to be better prepared if she runs into these situations.”
Robboy received more-supportive comments on her own Facebook page.
See more news at NBCPhiladelphia.com
A commenter identified as Marion Bargman said, “What a hoot! Of course, fight it. You made the news because your kid had to use the potty! How funny. and of course you handled yourself serenely. ... You're pretty good at not overreacting like the rest of us !”
Robboy told NBCPhiladelphia.com that Nathaniel, the 2-year-old, is a bright child who, aside from Sunday’s misfire, is doing well with his potty training.
A police spokesperson told NBCPhiladelphia.com they allow officers to use their own judgment and discretion in issuing tickets. They're currently trying to contact the officer who issued the ticket to get his side of the story before taking any action.
NBCNews' Jim Gold contributed to this story.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Clandestine dentist arrested in Miami after filing teen girl's teeth
- Cop drags woman, 77, from car after ID refusal
- Video: Was cash-from-car chase 'Robin Hood' situation?
- 73-year-old birdwatcher: I was raped in New York's Central Park
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Deer, rabbits, birds, dogs, cows, horses, but it is humans that must pee in a toilet.
Makes you wonder how the pioneers did it. Months at a time with no outhouse. Do you suppose they held it until they could find the proper place to pee?
Next time you have to pee kid, find a parked cop car and make that fifty dollars worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de_P2aUZJyA&feature=related
What would barney do ?
I don`t see anything wrong with it, I often find myself yearning for the ole days when people would empty chamber pots out of their windows and into the streets. The real proof that a country has achieved first world super power status is when their streets are flowing with human urine and feces.
I think that the reason some people are so disgusted by this--and by this I mean the public urination, not the citation--is that there are many people like me that are tired and resentful of lazy parenting. BTW, that's not to say that lazy parenting occurred in this instance, but it is an easy assumption to make without knowing more about the story. Certainly no one blames a two-year-old for not having the judgment or control to keep from urinating in public.
Yet, when people are constantly bombarded with misbehavior by children simply because their parents don't care to curtail that behavior--well, it's really frustrating. When I go to a sports bar and a baby screams through the entire football game because the parents can afford a meal out, but not a babysitter, it's flat out irritating. I don't have children, because I don't want to change my lifestyle. Unfortunately, these days, neither do most parents. They want to go shopping and drag their whiney, cranky toddlers with them. They want to take their kids to the theater, then sit five rows away from them. (Trust me, if you don't want to sit near your kids, neither do I.)
So, the bottom line is, whether this citation was the result of poor mothering or an unavoidable situation is actually moot and virtually unknowable by the online community. The law was broken, and in my experience, they don't make many exceptions regardless of age or ignorance, nor should they.
If you can hear a baby crying in a sports bar over the shouts and screams of the drunken patrons you are suffering from terminal audio hypersensitivity.
When my son was 19 months old, I used to take him walking in the woods. One day as I relieved myself he got all excited and exclaimed, "Daddy, I want to pee on the tree too"! (He was instantly potty trained!) A few weeks later we were at Gramma's house and he said, "Dad I have to go pee." To which I replied,"Go ahead." The next thing I knew he was running out the back door. When he came back in I asked him where he'd been, to which he replied, "I went out back to pee on the tree". Good thing Gramma lives in suburbia or I would have gotten arrested too. Let her go, but she should have somewhat controlled the situation in the city.
this is why people hate cops to begin with can someone hack his personal records and post his home address online and where his kids go to school thx inadvance!!!!!
Wow, they finally stopped that peeing toddler. I feel safe now <rolling eyes>
And then there was the French actor Gerard Depardieu who micurated in a bottle when his flight was grounded for hours due to air traffic problems and the restrooms were either locked or occupied. We all have our priorities and emptying the bladder always rises to number one at some point. Amazed that anyone would care if a 2-year-old pees in public.
Perhaps the store owner should be fined for not allowing the child to use their restroom!
Now THAT I agree with...
Shame on the store clerk. The same thing happened when my son was 3. We were traveling through the country, he had to go, stopped at a small mom and pop store and the clerk wouldn't let him use the restroom. I took him behind the building; lucky for us there were no officers around.
Hell, i was at a gas station between daytona and ocala once that claimed there restroom was down. I was more like 33 at the time. Hopefully i am not on youtube somewhere . When you gotta go you gotta go.
I cant wait till this James Riggio Sr is is in adult diapers. Maybe you'll like it when pee & crap is in your diaper and nobody cleans it!!!!!!
My question is what was the cop doing before hand, that he/she had to write such a stupid ticket
Did the cop make the quota for the day...??
I heard they have to write one per hour to justify there requirement for the community