Police in Texas say they did not initially arrest a couple from Saudi Arabia for leaving their baby in their locked vehicle unattended – because the couple said it was OK to do it in their country.
A minute-long video to posted Facebook showed Corpus Christi police officers trying to free an eight-month-old girl left alone in a car.
Officials located her parents, who were with their four-year-old child, inside a nearby movie theatre.
According to CBS affiliate KUTV, culture played a factor as to why the parents were not originally detained.
However, they have since been charged with child abandonment and endangerment.
“The family is from Saudi Arabia and they said that this is culturally acceptable for them – that this is normal,” said Senior Officer Kirk Stowers to KUTV. “It is a violation of law to leave a child unattended in a vehicle…there were no arrests made last night.”
Sec. 22.10 of the Texas Constitution and Statutes states that “a person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly leaves a child in a motor vehicle for longer than five minutes, knowing that the child is: (1) younger than seven years of age; and (2) not attended by an individual in the vehicle who is 14 years of age or older.”
According to Kidsandcars.org, the suspect can face six months to two years in jail with a fine of up to US$10,000 if the child is injured while in the vehicle.
However, KUTV wrote officials showed cultural sensitivity and released the family.
“If it was someone who grew up in the United States, of course the outcome may be very different,” Stowers told KUTV.
Local newspaper Caller-Times wrote the family has an address in San Antonio but it’s not known how long they’ve lived there for.
Two days after the incident, Lt. Chris Hooper of the Corpus Christi police department apologized for the lack of information on the incident given earlier.
“We didn’t do a good job on your news story the other night. We didn’t do a good job of explaining that,” Lt. Hooper said to ABC affiliate, KIII TV. “We should not have released the offenders alibi to you all. We shouldn’t have done it, but we did.”
Hooper went on to say the actions of the parents were illegal but determined “the child was not in immediate danger after speaking to the parents.”
“I teach multiculturalism in the police academy,” Hooper told KIII. “But in no way do their values from another country or their cultural idiosyncrasies afford them the right to break laws in our country.”
Police said this is an active investigation and have plans to follow up if the family’s statement on leaving a child unattended in a car is acceptable in Saudi Arabia.
As well, child protective services are now a part of the investigation.
Global News has reached out to the Corpus Christi police department but has not heard back.
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