The simple task of walking a dog alone is a right of passage for a kid, but it got one north suburban family in a lot of trouble, even leading to an investigation by the Department of Children and Family Services.
A Wilmette mom was investigated for letting her 8-year-old walk the family dog alone. One of those walks caught the eye of a neighbor, who called the police and set off a legal nightmare for the family.
“I think it’s a crazy waste of resources,” the girl’s mother, Corey Widen, said.
Shortly after the eight-year-old got home, a Wilmette police officer rang the doorbell. When asked to describe her reaction when she first saw the police, Widen said, “for a split second I thought maybe it was fundraising.”
She quickly learned that wasn’t the case.
Widen says the officer was called to her home by a neighbor who saw her daughter walking alone had left without incident.
“Apparently whoever call the police didn’t think the police were a good enough judge of what was OK and not OK. Then they called DCFS. The police did not call DCFS,” Widen said.
An investigation was launched and Widen hired an attorney to clear her name. The matter was resolved in less than two weeks, but Widen said she was left with many questions and felt “mom-shamed.”
“You never know who did this to you and it turns your life upside down,” she said. “I’m a homeschooled mom and I’m always with my kids. You can accuse me of a lot of things, not supervising them, is not one of them. My entire life revolves around them.”
Read more at CBS Chicago.
