Plan B Forum

Posted: **Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:13 pm**

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/25/ar ... ws-gun-pic

OTTAWA - Jessie Sansone and his family are reeling after he was arrested and strip searched by police after his four-year-old daughter drew a picture of a man with a gun in her Kitchener, Ont., kindergarten class.

The 26-year-old father of four said Saturday the sketch was supposed to be him, getting the bad guys and monsters.

The school must have thought differently, as after Nevaeh drew it Wednesday, the school contacted Family and Children's Services and they called police.[ IDIOT SCHOOL!]

Waterloo Police met Sansone at the school when he tried to pick up his kids he was told he was charged with possession of a firearm.[OMG! ] He was then handcuffed and put him in one of the several squad cars waiting outside, he said.

"When I was finally able to see my family, after this ordeal was over, my little girl ran up and gave me a hug me and asked: 'Daddy, are you mad at me?'" said Sansone, his voice choked. "How could she ever think that I would be mad at her? She knows this has to do with her drawing."

<snip>

I hope this man is able to launch a successful lawsuit aganist the IDIOTS at this school.

ETA: CLUMSY KEYBOARDING

Posted: **Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:21 pm**

Lunacy!

Posted: **Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:32 pm**

I'm impressed that a 4-year-old could draw something that detailed with a crayon.

I was personally into stick figures until high school.

So what about the weapons charge. Did he truly have an illegal (unregistered?) firearm?

Posted: **Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:25 pm**

There was a transparent plastic toy gun that shoots darts, but no real firearms were discovered.

Which led to the hilarious backpedaling that the children thought it was a real gun and that was good enough reason to arrest their father.

Posted: **Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:30 pm**

I was personally into stick figures until high school.

That's still the extent of my artistic ability.

Biology lab was a killer cause I couldn't draw.

That's why I ended up in Geology ya just have to be able to read tape...

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 12:24 am**

The scary part of this is, because of our current government's obsession with "law and order", illegal possession of a firearm could have gotten him a mandatory minimum of three years.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:07 am**

Even worse: at 26 he's been a dad since he was 16 and is presently cooking his 5th sprog. What are the chances that he and the wife raise them independent of government assistance?

I get the feeling there is, as usual, more to the story.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:59 am**

This story provides more detail that shows it was more than about the drawing. But they still overreacted. Arresting and charging him without even ascertaining that he was in possession of an illegal weapon was unjustifiable.

And yes, he does have a job. And he stuck around to take care of his kids, which puts him head and shoulders above 95% of teen fathers.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:04 am**

That's a general link - at least when I click, it doesn't take me to a related story.

I didn't say he didn't have a job; look carefully at what I said.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:39 am**

It's linking to a story for me, not sure what's wrong.

And I did read what you said; the only sort of "government assistance" that would be available to him is the Universal Child Care Benefit, to which everyone with children under 6 is entitled, plus a variety of tax credits that are based on income and number of dependents. If his income is low enough, he would be eligible (if any units are available) for rent geared to income housing which would mean he would not have to pay more than 30% of his income to rent housing suitable for his family size. None of which I would begrudge someone who is working for a living and is around to take care of his kids.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:10 am**

I rooted around and found the story. It clearly states he wasn't charged, only brought in for questioning. Sounds like given the statements of the child, the school officials were following their mandates to report potential abuse/neglect. Allowing young children access to a firearm falls into that category.

Of course it's much more likely to sell papers if we ramp this up into some great injustice. I find it hard to sympathize, on a day when yet more kids are shot and killed by a classmate with unfettered access to firearms.

Why not: "Those couple of hours really sucked, but overall we are glad to realize how carefully the school is looking out for the welfare of our kids."

No lawsuit in that approach.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:23 am**

I don't know what story you are reading, but the one I linked to says:

He said he went to the school Wednesday afternoon to pick up his three children. He was summoned to the principal’s office where three police officers were waiting. They said he was being charged with possession of a firearm.

and

At the police station, Sansone talked to a lawyer who said only that he was being charged with possession of a firearm, Sansone said.

He kept asking questions. He was given a blanket and told he would appear before a judge in the morning to post bail.

“I was getting pretty scared at that point,” Sansone said. “It seemed like I was actually being charged at this point.”

He was forced to remove his clothes for a full strip search.

Several hours later, a detective apologized and said he was being released with no charges, Sansone said.

So he was charged, which was of course necessary to arrest him in the first place. Then he was strip searched, which I don't believe is something that is generally done to someone brought in for questioning.

I don't know that the school's initial response was an overreaction, although they could have had a conversation with the guy before calling the police. The existence of a firearm in a home does not automatically equate to endangering the children. But everything that followed clearly was an overreaction. He could have been given the opportunity to be escorted to his home and voluntarily submit to a search to see if the police were able to find anything. That would have avoided all the other mess - the arrest, the strip search, dragging the kids to FCS, and so on.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:34 am**

I wonder if his prior record of violent crime affected their decisions about how to proceed?

In any case, of course the situation could have been handled better. It's easy in hindsight to determine the same of just about any situation.

Clearly all the school officials and law enforcement involved should just be shot.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:35 am**

The link worked fine for me.

“In the end, it may not be substantiated. There may be a reasonable explanation for why the child drew that gun. But we have to go on what gets presented to us.

Reasonable explanation? How about the fact that thousands of heroes on TV and in movies have guns to (in the daughter's words) "shoot bad guys and monsters” and maybe she sees her father as a similar hero who will protect her from said "bad guys and monsters."?

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:10 am**

bigskygal wrote:Clearly all the school officials and law enforcement involved should just be shot.

Oh yeah, that's obviously what I'm saying.

Did the girl say her father left weapons lying around the house, or did they otherwise get that impression? It's difficult to see how, and absent that, the idea that the children were in danger was something that should have been investigated before arresting someone with no evidence to speak of that any crime had been committed. And there's nothing about that requiring hindsight. I already laid out a course of action that would have meant taking exactly the same precautions without the necessity to jump right to arresting him. If what you are saying is that police are too stupid to think of such an option on their own, then I might have to agree with you.

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:45 pm**

Next up:

A budding young artist puts crayon and paper to good use drawing RCMP officers smoking pot. Forcing provincial authorities to arrest what was called the "Dudley Doobie-Right Gang" and hold them for questioning.

yrs,
rubato

Posted: **Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:46 pm**

"Arrest first and ask questions later." Who did they train with? The LAPD?

yrs,
rubato

Posted: **Sun Mar 04, 2012 4:28 pm**

Econoline wrote:The link worked fine for me.
“In the end, it may not be substantiated. There may be a reasonable explanation for why the child drew that gun. But we have to go on what gets presented to us.
Reasonable explanation? How about the fact that thousands of heroes on TV and in movies have guns to (in the daughter's words) "shoot bad guys and monsters” and maybe she sees her father as a similar hero who will protect her from said "bad guys and monsters."?

In many cases, it's good parenting to show your child that, you will look under the bed, and will check the closet for monsters; and that you'll protect them from whatever boogies, in whatever means necessary.
In those cases, the child is expressing her pride and love in her father, for his care, with the drawing.

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