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From a 6-year-old kid who floated away in a homemade hot air balloon to tales about Elvis being alive and working at Wal-Mart, our society is full of lies.
We may expect such falsities from some politicians – but a 12-year-old girl?
The Pima County preteen who claimed a man tried to abduct her the morning of Jan. 25 on her way to the bus stop near Romero and Wetmore roads later admitted she made the whole thing up.
“Detectives from the Crimes Against Children Unit have determined the 12-year-old female fabricated the story entirely, ” according to the news release from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. “The 12-year-old female has been cited for False Reporting to Law Enforcement. She was referred to her parents.”
Wonder how much of her allowance money will go to pay any fines.
We also have to wonder why she did it. While the family’s name was not released and we could not talk to the girl directly, we do have some theories.
She wanted attention. The most obvious theory in this case, people may lie because they feel no one is paying them any mind. This type of story not only gets attention from authorities, the media, the school and classmates, but also garners center stage with parents.
She wanted to bolster her ego. Folks often lie to feel better about themselves or to make others believe they are some superstar. This theory is found again and again with fishermen whose catch of the day story often grows from a 5-inch bass to a 5-foot, man-eating shark.
She honestly thought it happened. If this is the case, therapy rather than punishment should be in store. Delusions are not healthy. They also may end in tragedy if your dog starts telling you to kill people.
She wanted the day off from school. We must admit, spending a morning sipping soda at Circle K then being the star of sheriff’s investigation sounds a bit more exciting than sitting through math class.
While these examples are full of sarcasm, lying is actually some serious business. It can put innocent men and women in jail, shatter families and break hearts. It can also have us scurrying to every Wal-Mart to see how Elvis looks at age 75.
Trust is such a fragile thing. It takes years to gain it and one millisecond for it to evaporate.
Hope she enjoyed her day off from school.
Are you angry about the incident or concerned about the girl – or both?
What would be apt punishment? How would you punish your own child if she pulled this?
Have you ever cried wolf?
Have you ever fallen prey to those who cry wolf?
Mornin’ Rynski! Twelve years old and already has a rap sheet. Sounds like she wanted the attention from friends this would bring, to me. While honesty is almost always the best policy, occasionally a little white lie to spare someone hurt or anguish can be forgiven. Being brutally honest can sometimes be, well…brutal.
yes, so sad about the rap sheet – but it will probably get sealed so she doesn’t have to admit it on future resumes (haha). besides, the charge is a misdemeanor, i heard, which means she won’t have to check that little box about ever being convicted of a felony.
agree with your attention theory – but maybe from parents as well as friends?
also agree about white lies to spare feelings, like “your butt doesn’t look fat in those jeans” kind of things.
yes, truth can be brutal – but it doesn’t have to be administered brutally.
The ‘parental attention’ this would bring my daughter would not be something to look forward to. 😉
Hi Ryn! This girl must be crazy. I really don’t understand why anyone would want to make up a story about being almost-abducted. It’s just silly to me.
Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 8:17 am
yeah, if you’re going to make up stories, at least make it something exciting, like you just spent a month in paris or something.
just like crimes – if you’re going to go to jail, you may as well do something BIG and worth it. hahhahah
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azmouse on 01/27/2010 at 7:51 am
I heard that her and her family just recently moved to Tucson and she hated it here…misses her extended family and all her friends. If that’s the case, maybe she wanted her parents to think it was an unsafe place to live? Maybe she had heard about the previous abduction attempt and it planted a seed?
Either way, it’s sad to me.
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Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 8:18 am
aahhh, like your insider info, AZMouse – good theories on your end. also agree it’s very sad.
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Ferraribubba on 01/27/2010 at 7:51 am
Hey Rynski: Kinda reminds ya of both Tawana Brawley and the two topless dancers that ruined the lives of the entire Duke Soccer Team, doesn’t it?
Since the three of them got off scott free and no charges ever being filed against them, why pick on a poor little 12 year-old girl?
I mean, they were adults, and here she is,  just a kid pulling a childish prank. It just don’t seem fair, does it?
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
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Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 8:21 am
i read a whole book on that duke case – wow. that WAS a mess, for sure. so many people got messed up over that one. and yes, good ole tawana by the dumpster.
you bring up a very good point about adults ducking charges and it not being fair to pick on a 12-year-old girl.
but then not much is ever fair, no?
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 8:19 am
Nah FB, it reminds me more of Michael Tillman, who spent 24 years in prison after being tortured into confessing by the police.
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Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 8:22 am
you think the girl was tortured into making up the story?
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radmax on 01/27/2010 at 8:37 am
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 9:28 am
Indeed.  Fascist (along with other choice and unprintable words) was what I yelled at them when the Pepper Spray came out in Phoenix recently.  Some things never get old.
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 8:52 am
No, I doubt that.  You have to read FB’s posts consistently to understand the subtext that runs through most of them.  In both cases he mentions, the false complaints were filed by black people.  FB’s posts contain a consistent subtext of racism and anti-working class attitude.  FB is an ex-cop, so I thought it appropriate to counter his argument with one of many examples of police torture to force false confessions out of innocent black people.
As RadMax’s good friend Vladimir Ilyich opined, you can’t reform cops and capitalists.
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Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 9:17 am
oh. thanks for clearing that up, although I much preferred the tortured to tell story theory better…
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 9:30 am
Feel free to spread it around that you have it on “good authority” from a “reliable source” that the girl was tortured by the police.
Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 10:26 am
radmax on 01/27/2010 at 9:29 am
Ha! Poor V.I. Is he still ‘under glass’ in the Kremlin? Bet he and Stalin are havin’ a fine time in hell trying to cheat Satan at poker.
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 9:39 am
I think V.I. was recently hauled out, dusted off and otherwise “rehabilitated”.   He was quite the scholar of socialism.  I don’t buy into some of his ideas; democratic centralism and the need for the party vanguard to guide the proletariat come to mind.  I do like his ideas regarding the inevitability of imperialism in advanced capitalist societies and also on the question of reform vs. revolution.  Where do you stand on the issue of democratic centralism, Rad? Yae or Nae?
radmax on 01/27/2010 at 9:53 am
From time to time Lefty, I believe the Tree of Liberty needs to be watered with the blood of tyrants…and perhaps a greedy capitalist or two…centralism is desirable, allows one to move in either direction as the need may be. 😉 While I distrust small groups making policy for the masses, Lenin was onto some things which if allowed to come to fruition(see Stalin) possibly could have changed world history for the better. What the hell was the topic again? Sorry Rynski 🙂
Ferraribubba on 01/27/2010 at 9:48 am
Hey Lefty: Ferrari Bubba is anti-working class? LMFAO! My 1st real paycheck was when I was 14 years old, and I worked for 46 straight years after that. Sometimes 6 and 7 days a week. I held down two jobs most of the time to get ahead in this world until I was 32 years old.
If that’s anti-working class, I guess I’m guilty as charged.
And as far a being a racist, or in some way anti-black, that’s so ludicrous that I won’t even bother to respond.
You paint with a very broad brush, my friend. Do you judge all ex-Marines by Charles Whitman? Do you judge all ex-Hippies by Charlie Manson, like you judge all ex-cops? Do you judge all democrat Vice Presidential candidates and husbands by John Edwards?
You’re sounding more and more like your buddy, Dion. What’s next. you’re going to force me to my knees with your logic, like he wants to do?   Get serious.
Still yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 10:08 am
You may have started working at an early age, but you have no class consciousness and are most definitely anti-working class and counter-revolutionary by socialist standards.  Within the context of bourgeois democracy and cop culture, I’m sure you are quite the blue collar guy.  This is a different thing altogether, FB.
It can be difficult to parse out matters of class from matters of race, FB, but there is a consistent subtext of racism in your posts.  You are apparently not even aware of it.  When you talk about the good people of SD recovering quickly from wildfires because they do not come from generations of welfare recipients vs the people of NO, it is clear what you are referring to, just as it was clear who Ronald Reagan was referring to when he spoke of “welfare queens”.  This is just one example.
No, I have no illusions of forcing anyone to do anything with my logic.  At our age, I doubt either one of us is that adaptable to fundamental world view change and I do not believe the American working class has any revolutionary potential.
koreyk on 01/28/2010 at 7:29 am
Speaking of painting with a broad brush, Ferrari Bubba, guess the author of the following quote from Jan 7 on these very Tucson Citizen boards:
“Hey David: May I be frank with you? The San Francisco Hippie Generation gave us Charlie Manson and his fun-loving group of merry pranksters. Nice and peaceful? Nice and peaceful my ass!”
His initials are F. B. in case you need a hint.
azmouse on 01/27/2010 at 9:07 am
I just don’t believe that at twelve you can fully understand the ramifications of your actions on a long term basis.
Maybe a few can, but most can’t.
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 9:25 am
You’re right, azmouse.  Recent studies using brain scanning technologies have confirmed three things that we have long known by painful experience with teenagers:  they have little impulse control; they are very susceptible to peer influence and they do not understand the longer-term consequences of actions.  These are all matters of brain maturation.
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azmouse on 01/27/2010 at 9:41 am
Right, leftfield. Also, from what I’ve heard of those studies, for most kids that doesn’t change until they’re in their twenties.
That makes me wonder about children getting tried as adults, which has always worried me. Normally I’m a very ‘hard on crime’ type of person, but with kids it brings me allot of concern because of their thinking processes.
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Andrew Ulanowski on 01/27/2010 at 10:04 am
Morning Rynski! Hello Mouse! Radmaxian! Jenna, Leftfield and FerrariB~!
Such a shame that this young girl had to pull such a stunt for attention. My daughter just turned twelve and I have a hard time imagining her wanting or having to do such a thing. Drama seems to be a part of the age group and I guess this is one of the extreme examples of speaking/acting out. I hope she gets what she needs in the end.
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Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 10:29 am
nice to see you about! drama, oh, the draaaaamaaa of being 12, for sure. that was one long tragic play, if i remember correctly. not as tragic as the epic high school years, of course – haha.
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azmouse on 01/27/2010 at 10:35 am
I think middle school is way more drama than high school..at least it was for me and my kids as well. Twelve years old was when I first realized my parents didn’t know anything!! It occurred during a disagreement with my Mother and we were standing in the hallway. It’s as clear as a bell. lol
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Rynski on 01/27/2010 at 10:53 am
oh, man. that’s too funny. at 12 i was def less cynical than hs, so it was an easier drama at least, not a dark comedy – hahhaa.
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Andrew Ulanowski on 01/27/2010 at 11:02 am
Hey Mouse! I know that Andrea has been having a harder time of it what with every kind of manipulation popping up amongst some of her school mates. It is tough.
I think realizing that my parents knew nothing contributed directly to running away from home. I decided to take matters into my own hands at that point. I’m glad I did.
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azmouse on 01/27/2010 at 11:54 am
I hope Andrea hangs in there. My youngest son had a hard time in middle school. He’s a brainiac type and kids don’t appreciate it. He got picked on allot, called names, even hit one day. It made for some evenings of tears for sure. I was always at the school for one thing or another for him. (he was little for his age too)
Now he’s a junior in high school and all that’s behind him. Now it’s okay to be smart! lol and he’s 6ft so not little any more.
Andrew Ulanowski on 01/27/2010 at 12:19 pm
I keep close tabs on Andrea and give her all the encouragement I can. She has a lot of courage and a strong sense of self so that helps too. Thanks for your encouragement Mouse.
Andrew Ulanowski on 01/27/2010 at 10:53 am
Ryn, the high school years . . . well, I held my own but I didn’t like it any better than my jr. high years.
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Ferraribubba on 01/27/2010 at 10:54 am
“by socialist standards.” You nailed it, my friend. Ferrari Bubba ain’t no bomb throwin’ Trotskyite. Far from it.
I’ve worked for everything that I’ve gotten in life, and I haven’t drawn a nickel from anybody that, either I haven’t paid back, or pre-paid into, like social security.
Yea, that’s MY money that I’m getting back every month. Every week I paid into the fund via payroll deductions, and what’s not been stolen by the crooked pols in Washington is coming back to help me survive in my ‘Golden Years.’
And since you brought up the comparison of San Diego with New Orleans, it’s simple.
The majority of Ward 9 people in NO are multi-generational welfare folks. They depend on FedGovCo for everything. They wouldn’t even begin to know how to recover from a disaster without the government stepping in and doing it for them. Hence the almost total anarchy in the Superdome.
When the much needed food and medical supplies didn’t arrive, they simply stole or robbed from their neighbors. They didn’t know any better.
Ever hear of the Cargo People in the Pacific during WW2? It’s the same mentality.
Whereas, San Diego people want almost no government interference at all. They pride themselves, Like many of us do, in being self-suffencent enough to help themselves and their neighbors, like our forefathers did.
Yer Blue Collar pal, Ferrari Bubba
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 12:23 pm
You know FB, the specifics of who we worked for and where we worked are different, but the general narrative seems the same for you and me.  I got my first job at 15 and I’ve worked all my life except for some of my time in college.  I’ve never received government assistance, always paid my taxes without cheating, etc, etc.
The average SS recipient runs through their payments and interest on their payments into the system in just a few years.  After that, your monthly check is coming to you courtesy of people like me who are still working and paying in.  I’m proud to go to work to support you in the style to which you have become accustomed, comrade.  SS is a paragon  of socialist programs.  Remember the words of your Uncle Karl, “From each according to ability, to each according to need”.  I have the ability and you have the need, comrade.
From one commie to another, your comrade, Leftfield.
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Ferraribubba on 01/27/2010 at 12:50 pm
If only Dion were here to share this beautiful moment of discovery with us.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
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Ferraribubba on 01/27/2010 at 1:44 pm
Hey Lefty: You forget the people, like my uncle George, who retired on a Friday afternoon, after paying into social security all his life, and was dead by 10 am the next Monday , felled by a massive heart attack while moving into his retirement casita on the beach in Baja.  He never collected a cent.  And the millions who check out even younger than him.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
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leftfield on 01/27/2010 at 3:55 pm
Sorry to hear about George’s bad break and early demise.  If Uncle George had no survivors, I imagine that you and possibly I will be the beneficiaries of his labors.
Even more important to me is the lesson I take from Uncle George: that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.  All we really have for sure is today, so make the most of it and make sure the people in your life know how much you love them.
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Ferraribubba on 01/27/2010 at 5:38 pm
Yea Lefty, that might have been true at one time. That is until 1964, when God’s own crooked polititian, LBJ and Congress transferred all the social security money over to the general fund to help finance the Vietnam war.
Yer pal, Ferrari Bubba
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Stephanie on 01/27/2010 at 5:57 pm
Honestly, I’m pretty freaking peeved about the entire thing. I was called at work by the cops because they had my Husband in custody. He apparently “matched” the description of this now known to be fictitious man. It messed up mine and my Husband’s ENTIRE day!!!!!! When we got the call to tell us there were no more worries bc she made the whole thing up, I was steaming mad! And to think of all the manpower that was WASTED looking for somebody who didn’t even exist!
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azmouse on 01/27/2010 at 6:09 pm
Oh Stephanie! I’m so sorry that happened to your poor husband. What a scary situation for you both. I can certainly understand your feelings…that would more than just mess up your entire day!