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[d_r]

140. you are reading it in the most conservative way

"who is suffering from *OR* ....."wound, injury, disability, physical or mental condition."

It does not say a child who is suffering from abuse/ neglect AND experiences a ....."wound, injury, disability, physical or mental condition." It says OR. The standard is not as restrictive as you are reading it.

And you may not think that the child being left alone for an hour in the AM meets the standard, and frankly I might agree with you, but that is not the point. The point is if it is enough that it makes someone SUSPECT abuse then it is that person's obligation to report.

What I suspect is abuse/neglect and what you suspect and what the OP suspects and what the next poster suspects may be different, but we do not have that obligation of determining if it ACTUALLY IS abuse/neglect. Our obligation is to report when WE *suspect* - is the obligation of DCS and/or law enforcement to investigate further and make those determinations.

In the OP's story, the LEO determined that it did not meet the standard in their jurisdiction. Fine, that is how it should work. There's the process.

Now, we can all agree the OP was a jerk by calling back the second time. And we can ponder about the OPs motives and think they are a horrible person.

However, I am concerned that if we promote publicly that individuals should be deciding whether there is evidence to meet legal definitions before reporting then we are doing a serious disservice to children. Report suspicions, do not investigate or judge yourself.