Originally Posted by
SeriouslyLost
It will sound harsh, but I have zero sympathy for the terminally (literally) stupid. The only hope is that the parent is prosecuted and jailed for manslaughter. It's the only way the stupid people learn. It's not an "accident". It was entirely foreseeable and preventable by not doing something so dumb.
Tired parent coming off a trip that was who knows how long is an invitation for more accidents.
This was an accident, and accidents can cause injury or death. However, not all accidents are manslaughter.
Prosecuting and locking the mother up is not going to be a useful lesson for anyone. Why make an almost-certainly grieving American mother suffer even more than she has and will suffer? Perhaps we should be prosecuting and locking up parents who give cooked meat to their children? It's entirely foreseeable and preventable that carcinogens are being consumed that way.
It is stupid to place a child on, or allow children to play with, baggage belts, but accidents do happen and not every wrongful action needs to be pursued by a prosecutor and result in a conviction in court.