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Watching Out For Children

It is impossible to say with certainty what would have happened last Tuesday, had the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department not received the call it did at about 7:13 p.m. What might have occurred is reason enough to be very grateful someone called 911.

Within two minutes of the call being received by the 911 center, Deputy Chad Kulpa arrived at a vehicle parked in the lot at the Ohio Valley Plaza. He found a 2-year-old child inside the car alone with the doors locked and a window open slightly.

Kulpa had no way of knowing how long the boy had been left alone outside. He did know the temperature registered 5 degrees, so he prepared to break a window to get the lad out. Just then, St. Clairsville Patrolman Greg Clark arrived and helped unlock the vehicle.

Fortunately, other than being very cold, the child was all right.

The man who left him in the car, a friend of the boy’s mother, was arrested and charged with the fourth-degree felony of endangering children. It appears he had left the little boy alone in the bitter cold for about 23 minutes.

He went inside a store and forgot about the boy, he told the authorities.

We all make mistakes. From time to time we all find ourselves being forgetful. But there are certain things we simply must not forget, certain mistakes we must not make.

Putting a child in danger falls into those categories.

The parking lot where the child was found is a busy one. In all likelihood, many people walked past the boy in the car without noticing him. It was dark, after all.

But someone did and — bless him, her or them — called 911.

Better safe than sorry, they may have decided. Indeed.

If you think a child may be in danger for any reason, call the police. You may save a little boy or girl’s life.

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