Are there other cases of leaving children where the parents have been charged ?

[mercury]

30 minutes is still not an hour & does not constitute abandonment.
I have been politely told to provide cites to substantiate any outside information introduced on this forum - hence the newspaper article.
There are plenty more to illustrate extreme examples of parenting far worse than that of the McCanns & their friends, should you feel I am joking.

Where did you get the "an hour" issue from?

The AGs report does say there was no intent to "abandon" but also said they failed in their duty of parental care.

[Carew]

Portuguese law is specific. UK law is none-existent really, all we have is advice and that is very clear.

Perhaps, then,  it should be Portuguese cases in which children have been left and the parents subsequently charged which would represent a more appropriate and relevant comparison.

[G-Unit]

Although sympathetic, the legal summary says they did neglect their duty, and if they hadn't, no abduction would have been possible;

This shows that the parents were not persistently worried about their children [and] that they didn't check on them like they afterwards declared they did, rather neglecting their duty to guard those same children, although not in a temerarious, or gross, manner.

If said guard duty had been observed, in the possibility of this being an abduction, as was insistently mentioned and continues to be mentioned and is admissible to have happened, its occurrence might eventually have been rendered inviable.

[ferryman]

Although sympathetic, the legal summary says they did neglect their duty, and if they hadn't, no abduction would have been possible;

This shows that the parents were not persistently worried about their children [and] that they didn't check on them like they afterwards declared they did, rather neglecting their duty to guard those same children, although not in a temerarious, or gross, manner.

If said guard duty had been observed, in the possibility of this being an abduction, as was insistently mentioned and continues to be mentioned and is admissible to have happened, its occurrence might eventually have been rendered inviable.

So where does that leave Amaral's contention that the McCanns were responsible for killing Madeleine, hiding her body, fabricating an abduction and launching a fraudulent "appeal" in their (dead!) daughter's name?

[Mr Gray]

Although sympathetic, the legal summary says they did neglect their duty, and if they hadn't, no abduction would have been possible;

This shows that the parents were not persistently worried about their children [and] that they didn't check on them like they afterwards declared they did, rather neglecting their duty to guard those same children, although not in a temerarious, or gross, manner.

If said guard duty had been observed, in the possibility of this being an abduction, as was insistently mentioned and continues to be mentioned and is admissible to have happened, its occurrence might eventually have been rendered inviable.

so the legal summary accepts that an abduction could have taken place

[Mr Gray]

I agree, there is no such thing as a perfect parent. Accidents happen when you're there. There's a difference between a momentary lapse of judgement and a deliberate act, repeated over 5 nights. If other parents are leaving small children alone in unlocked apartments and going out to dinner they must be very stupid.

A mum who left her six-year-old son home alone for 45 minutes is fighting to get a caution for child neglect removed from her records.
http://www.parentdish.co.uk/2014/11/10/mum-who-left-six-year-old-home-alone-fights-to-strike-child-neglect-charge/

this lady was not charged nor found guilty

[stephen25000]

so the legal summary accepts that an abduction could have taken place

I hate to put a spoiler on your post, but there's nae evidence of abduction.

[G-Unit]

so the legal summary accepts that an abduction could have taken place

That remark is off topic! The point I was making is that they were neglectful, although not badly enough to be charged.

However;

All options were left open, but abduction seems to have been doubted somewhat, and homicide highly probable (whether after abduction or not);

Considering the participated facts, conjugated with the information that was offered. namely by the witnesses, and with the information that was made available through the development of the inquiry, the investigation equated the verification of several hypotheses: abduction, for the purpose of sexual exploration or others (i.e. posterior adoption, child traffic, organ traffic), without homicide; abduction, followed by homicide with (or without) concealment of a cadaver, hypotheses that were considered under the double sides of the abduction (if it existed) having occurred due to feelings of vengeance of the abductor(s) towards the parents (directed abduction) or simply taking advantage of the circumstance that the child was in a situation of actual vulnerability (opportunity abduction), accidental death, with posterior concealment of the cadaver and, underlying all of these possibilities, abandonment, substantiated as a crime under article 138 of the Penal Code. The possibility of theft, whose author would have been disturbed by the child Madeleine and who, in order to prevent her from disturbing him, neutralised her in a violent manner, and, afterwards, took her with him, dead or alive, in order to leave no trace that could eventually lead to his identification.

Concerning the other indicated crimes, they are no more than that and despite our perception that, due to its high degree of probability, the occurrence of a homicide cannot be discarded, such cannot be more than a mere supposition, due to the lack of sustaining elements in the files.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/LEGAL_SUMMARY.htm

[Mr Gray]

That remark is off topic! The point I was making is that they were neglectful, although not badly enough to be charged.

However;

All options were left open, but abduction seems to have been doubted somewhat, and homicide highly probable (whether after abduction or not);

Considering the participated facts, conjugated with the information that was offered. namely by the witnesses, and with the information that was made available through the development of the inquiry, the investigation equated the verification of several hypotheses: abduction, for the purpose of sexual exploration or others (i.e. posterior adoption, child traffic, organ traffic), without homicide; abduction, followed by homicide with (or without) concealment of a cadaver, hypotheses that were considered under the double sides of the abduction (if it existed) having occurred due to feelings of vengeance of the abductor(s) towards the parents (directed abduction) or simply taking advantage of the circumstance that the child was in a situation of actual vulnerability (opportunity abduction), accidental death, with posterior concealment of the cadaver and, underlying all of these possibilities, abandonment, substantiated as a crime under article 138 of the Penal Code. The possibility of theft, whose author would have been disturbed by the child Madeleine and who, in order to prevent her from disturbing him, neutralised her in a violent manner, and, afterwards, took her with him, dead or alive, in order to leave no trace that could eventually lead to his identification.

Concerning the other indicated crimes, they are no more than that and despite our perception that, due to its high degree of probability, the occurrence of a homicide cannot be discarded, such cannot be more than a mere supposition, due to the lack of sustaining elements in the files.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/LEGAL_SUMMARY.htm

many actions of parents are neglectful...though not serious enough to be charged

[Angelo222]

The apartment was not open to a main road. It opened onto a small car park at one side & a minor road at the side.
The toddlers were left alone for minutes at a time, not hours or days. Abandoning young children while you visit Australia for 6 weeks - now THAT is extreme.

Possibly the intention but the record shows something somewhat different.  Remind me, how long did Maddie cry for on the Tuesday night?  Seems to he the later it got and the more wine that flowed the longer the checking intervals became.  Clever Paynes having a wireless baby monitor though...good thinking!

[G-Unit]

many actions of parents are neglectful...though not serious enough to be charged

Not in Portugal at any rate. In the UK the same actions could have led to a police caution at least. This would not have looked good on a doctor's record. In the case I quoted a caution was proving difficult for the mother involved.

Although a caution is not a conviction, it forms a part of a person's criminal record and can be used as evidence of bad character if a person goes to court for another crime,[4][7] and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks (previously called Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks) for certain types of employment.[2] A caution might cause some countries not to allow visits to, or residence in, that country.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_caution

[Mr Gray]

Not in Portugal at any rate. In the UK the same actions could have led to a police caution at least. This would not have looked good on a doctor's record. In the case I quoted a caution was proving difficult for the mother involved.

Although a caution is not a conviction, it forms a part of a person's criminal record and can be used as evidence of bad character if a person goes to court for another crime,[4][7] and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks (previously called Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks) for certain types of employment.[2] A caution might cause some countries not to allow visits to, or residence in, that country.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_caution

It is only your opinion that this would have resulted in a caution.....if the caution was not accepted we don't know whether this would have resulted in charges..it's all opinion

[Eleanor]

this lady was not charged nor found guilty

She, rather foolishly accepted a Caution.  Probably from fear.

[misty]

Possibly the intention but the record shows something somewhat different.  Remind me, how long did Maddie cry for on the Tuesday night?  Seems to he the later it got and the more wine that flowed the longer the checking intervals became.  Clever Paynes having a wireless baby monitor though...good thinking!

Was that the crying which stopped when the patio door closed but wasn't heard by either parent as they entered the apartment?
Was that the crying Mrs Fenn allegedly heard which wasn't important to the PJ until right after the VRDs barked?

[G-Unit]

It is only your opinion that this would have resulted in a caution.....if the caution was not accepted we don't know whether this would have resulted in charges..it's all opinion

I said 'could', not 'would'. The point is that leaving kids and going out is not good practice. That's not just my opinion by the way, it's the opinion of the NSPCC and the police.