Most mothers do everything they can to make sure their children are cared for properly.
If they have to go out of town and aren’t able to take their children with them, they arrange for a babysitter or family member to care for the children until they return.
31-year-old Erin Macke isn’t one of those moms.
She took an 11-day trip through Europe with a friend while she left her four young children at home to care for themselves.
The oldest children are only 12 years old and were in charge of cooking and caring for the younger children, 6 and 7. Macke felt like this was a completely reasonable thing to do, and it wasn’t until the dad of two of the kids reported them being home alone that anything was done about it.
Johnston, Iowa, Police Lt. Tyler Tompkins said;
“I’ve never heard of anything like this before. We have situations where parents go next door or parents may go out for the night, and while that’s not advisable either depending on the age of the children, obviously leaving the country is a totally different situation. This, where a parent has left the country and left the kids home alone, I’ve never heard of it before.”
Police responded to Macke’s home for a welfare check on the children.
They found the oldest children cooking dinner for the younger ones and also found a handgun that was left in the home for the children.
Tompkins added:
“Upon further investigation, police learned Macke left the country on Sept. 20 and was not scheduled to return until Oct. 1. She made no arrangements to provide supervision of the children while she was away, according to the children.”
While Macke was in Europe, she didn’t seem to be the least bit worried about her children.
In fact, it was like she didn’t even have any. She posted a lot of photos on her social media pages, and she appears to be smiling and having a great time in all of them.
Investigators said:
“Macke posted several photos to Instagram from her trip to Germany, including (a) photo of herself smiling and throwing her hands up in front of the Danube River in Bavaria. Photos posted on Macke’s Instagram last week show her touring Bavaria with a girlfriend and a baby.”
Macke felt that her children were capable of caring for themselves, and she was in no hurry to return home to them.
In fact, when police called to let her know she needed to return home, she told them she didn’t understand the reason for the urgency and stayed for another week.
When she returned, she was met at the airport by police and was arrested on the spot. Most people felt that she should spend time in prison, but after her court dates, she ended up walking away with only two years’ probation. It’s probably not even enough to make her think twice about leaving them alone again.
Macke’s ex-husband and the father of one of the children is angry about the court’s decision.
He said:
“Erin’s decision to leave the children was intentional, done knowingly, and she has not accepted any responsibility and continued to place blame on everyone else.”
He believes that Macke should not be allowed to care for the children any longer.
The children were removed from Macke’s home, but a judge will allow her to contact them once she undergoes counseling. Hopefully, Macke will learn her lesson. The courts likely won’t be so lenient the second time around.
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