Gerry McCann says that thousands did or would have done the same as them.

[ferryman]

I thought twice about admitting it, mainly due to the abuse I knew I would get.  But basic honestly wouldn't allow me to keep quiet.

No, I'm not sorry for doing it or for admitting it.

Can I suggest acknowledging rather than admitting?

Admitting does imply some feeling of guilt.

[Eleanor]

Can I suggest acknowledging rather than admitting?

Admitting does imply some feeling of guilt.

It's just a use of words, Ferryman.  I might have said I am not ashamed, which I am not.  I have no sense or feeling of guilt over this.  Oh, and I did do it several times.

I eventually sent them all off to Boarding School.  Another Guilt Trip that half the population would like me to take.  That didn't work either.

[John]

It has been said repeatedly, on this forum and elsewhere that the Mccanns received many letters from people saying they did the same as the Mccanns, and ergo by implication, what the Mccanns did was perfectly normal behaviour.

Yet this claim has never been substantiated.

Several posters on here have claimed to have done the same, but as they support the Mccanns, their claims could well be viewed as bias.

I know of a couple, the parents of one of my students, who left their young son , a 4 year old , in a hotel while they went out to dinner, with the door locked. He got out with a key, and wandered off. Fortunately, local people found him and returned him to the hotel and his scared parents. Needless to say, they did not repeat that behaviour, and it was in my view negligent, which they admit they were.

So , by what logic do people believe the Mccanns actions were acceptable ?

I believe they were ill considered but then they themselves have never denied this.  They were taken in by the quietness and the ambience of the place which is easily done.

I have never found myself in that exact same situation since my holidays with young children were always to traditional high rise hotel complexes.  We would never have drempt of leaving our children alone in a room, they came with us to dinner and the entertainment and slept quite happily in their buggy.  That said, had I found myself in the same situation as the McCanns I could very well have done what they did to the extent that one of us would have made a physical check every 15 minutes. However, I would most certainly not leave any apartment unsecured and unlocked especially since it was easily accessible to the public street yards away.  Leaving three young children alone for over an hour was atrocious behaviour in my opinion.

[Eleanor]

I didn't send The McCanns a letter.  I stated what I did on several Forums.

[faithlilly]

It's just a use of words, Ferryman.  I might have said I am not ashamed, which I am not.  I have no sense or feeling of guilt over this.  Oh, and I did do it several times.

I eventually sent them all off to Boarding School.  Another Guilt Trip that half the population would like me to take.  That didn't work either.

We hear week in, week out that the defendant in a court case has shown no remorse or felt no guilt for the crime he has just been found guilty of. Does that make him innocent? Does the fact that you, and your friends, feel no guilt for leaving your children alone negate the fact that it was wrong?  A genuine question.

[Eleanor]

We hear week in, week out that the defendant in a court case has shown no remorse or felt no guilt for the crime he has just been found guilty of. Does that make him innocent? Does the fact that you, and your friends, feel no guilt for leaving your children alone negate the fact that it was wrong?  A genuine question.

This not a genuine question because you imply that I committed a crime, or at the very least some sort of wrong doing.

I committed no Crime or wrong doing, so I have no reason for feeling remorse or guilt.

However, should one of my children have been stolen then no doubt I would beat myself up for the rest of my life when in fact it was The Abductor who committed the crime.
Will he be feeling remorse, do you think?

[faithlilly]

A more interesting question would be even if the McCanns had received the thousands of letters, described by Gerry, saying the letter's sender had done the same thing would that make what they did right or would that simply make them as negligent as the McCanns?

[Eleanor]

A more interesting question would be even if the McCanns had received the thousands of letters, described by Gerry, saying the letter's sender had done the same thing would that make what they did right or would that simply make them as negligent as the McCanns?

This is simply a matter of opinion.  Just because you think it is wrong doesn't actually make it so.

[faithlilly]

This not a genuine question because you imply that I committed a crime, or at the very least some sort of wrong doing.

I committed no Crime or wrong doing, so I have no reason for feeling remorse or guilt.

However, should one of my children have been stolen then no doubt I would beat myself up for the rest of my life when in fact it was The Abductor who committed the crime.
Will he be feeling remorse, do you think?

If you didn't believe that what you did was, at the least, questionable why were you so slow to admit it?

[faithlilly]

This is simply a matter of opinion.  Just because you think it is wrong doesn't actually make it so.

You really can't have it both ways Eleanor. We were told that the letters sent by the public to the McCanns admitting they had also left their children alone somehow makes that act acceptable. Yet in every comments sections under every article about the McCanns contributors in their thousands, whether they think the couple were complicit in their daughter's disappearance or not, state that leaving their children alone was wrong. Does that therefore mean it was?

[Eleanor]

If you didn't believe that what you did was, at the least, questionable why were you so slow to admit it?

I wasn't slow to admit it.  I first admitted it on 3As back in early 2008 as Sabot, you know, Maureen Eleanor Lang.  But then everybody knows that.

[Eleanor]

You really can't have it both ways Eleanor. We were told that the letters sent by the public to the McCanns admitting they had also left their children alone somehow makes that act acceptable. Yet in every comments sections under every article about the McCanns contributors in their thousands, whether they think the couple were complicit in their daughter's disappearance or not, state that leaving their children alone was wrong. Does that therefore mean it was?

I have never said it was wrong.  I don't believe it was.

[slartibartfast]

Anyone who has left a child alone and gone out has put their own needs above the needs of their child.

[Eleanor]

Anyone who has left a child alone and gone out has put their own needs above the needs of their child.

Only in your opinion.  You pay no attention to circumstances.

I never saw my children as a cross to bear, unlike some of you seem to do.   And I wouldn't mind betting that some of yours are sick to death of hearing about how much you sacrificed for them

[stephen25000]

Let's see the letters of support showing people did the same thing.