As CBS2's Steve Langford reported, Mery Isabel Quinde Castro, 22, did not want to face CBS2's cameras Tuesday. She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Castro's 4-year-old son was found alone, tied to a bush outside a Spring Valley apartment block by his own mother. He was tied to the bush for about half an hour Tuesday morning - catching the attention of neighbors and then of police, Langford reported.
"Her child, this 4 1/2-year-old boy, did not want to go into the apartment," said Spring Valley police Chief Paul Modica. "So she tied him to the bush until she could get him into the apartment."
Modica said the little boy was tied to the bush using the leash to his backpack, when the mother was babysitting other children in the building. She decided the little boy needed some sort of time out, Modica said.
"Very troubling," Modica said. "I mean, there were so many other things she could have done with the child."
But Castro's sister said the young mother had no choice but to restrain the little boy - whom she called wild. She vowed that the suspect was not a bad mother.
"No, no, no — she no did nothing wrong," said Rosa Quinde. "She is a good mother."
Comment: A good mother does not treat a child, even one described as wild, like an animal. A caring mother would know that tying your child to a tree or bush is a terrible act that any decent person would see as abuse.
Neighbors who witnessed the little boy tied up by himself were not so forgiving. "It befuddles me why she would tie a child up to a tree — almost like a dog," said witness Len Alvino of Spring Valley.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Castro appeared in Spring Valley court, where a judge ordered bail set at $2,500. Her sister pulled out the cash with no hesitation, Langford reported.
The young mother answered no questions as she headed home to see the little boy. She was due back in court Thursday morning.
For safety, mothers have been tying their small children to table legs, chair legs, bannisters, bushes etc etc since time immemorial.
In Scotland it was common practice for those who were forced to live by sea cliffs (i.e. those who were driven out of the countryside towards the sea by avaricious landlords) to tie their children to bushes and trees to stop them falling off the cliffs.
Good mothers often have to do things that look unpleasant in order to safeguard their children. (How about allowing others to stick sharp implements into your child and hurt and frighten them? We call it vaccination. )
Faced with what could have quickly escalated into an emergency situation, in the moment this mother found what sounds like a viable and very temporary quick fix to safeguard her unruly child whilst making sure the other children were safe.
Those who've pointed fingers have too much time on their hands.