Bubbaworld

Two sisters, ten and twelve-years-old, have been arrested in Enid, Oklahoma on allegations that they broke into a neighbor’s home, kidnapped a one-year-old child and stole $20, a stroller, diapers and wipes in one of the stupidest of crimes, even by Oklahoma standards.

The two pre-teens allegedly broke into the home of Sheila Wells, of Enid, around 5:30 am on the morning of July 5th pulling off the kidnapping of one-year-old Brandon Wells from his crib, without awakening his mother.

The kidnappers left a ransom note which read, “If you want to see your son again then you won’t call police and report him missing and you will leave $200,000 on the sofa tonight and we will return your son back safe. The ransom note was signed “The Kidnappers”.

The plot allegedly fell apart on the young criminals when their mother discovered the toddler.  The girls allegedly told their mother they had found the baby on the corner.  As the girls’ mother was trying to find the phone number for Sheila Wells, the twelve-year-old walked to the Wells home, awoke Sheila Wells and told her that her ten-year-old sister had kidnapped Brandon.

Reportedly, Wells went to the girls’ home, found the ten-year-old holding Brandon on her lap and saying she wanted to be Brandon’s “new mother”.  Wells retrieved her child, returned home and called police.

The alleged pre-teen kidnappers of Enid, OK were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, extortion and first-degree burglary.  According to police, neither of the girls would reveal the “why” of the alleged crime.  Both girls were taken to the Community Intervention Center.  After a late Thursday afternoon court appearance the girls were escorted from the courtroom by police, presumably back to the center.

Michael Wittmer, reportedly the father of one of the girls, appeared on an Oklahoma City TV news report and said, Why prosecute two girls who didn’t know no better?  There’s a lot of kids doing the same thing.  They’re getting away with it.  It’s not right.

Commentary and Opinion

Even by Oklahoma standards this case goes way, way beyond the bounds of typical juvenile crime and into the bounds of potential disaster.  That the girls allegedly managed to kidnap a one-year-old from his crib while his mother slept is frightening.

We do not know if Sheila Wells had a firearm in her home or not, but we do know that under Oklahoma law she likely would have been justified in shooting first and asking questions later had she awoke to shadows in the night stealing her child.

Kidnapping for ransom is one of the most serious of all crimes and one that sometimes results in serious injury or death for the victim, even if the kidnapper(s) meant no harm.

That the ten-year-old is the alleged ‘ring leader’ in this case is frightening in and of itself.  At ten-years-old most kids getting into trouble are shooting fireworks, shoplifting, sneaking into movies and other typical childhood mischief.  They are not formulating and carrying out kidnapping plots.

The comments of Mr. Wittmer are obviously those of a parent that finds themselves in an absolute nightmare.  However the fact remains that there are not other kids doing the same thing.  At least we have not heard of them in the news and odds are that were it happening we would hear of it.  News media reports of the pre-teen kidnappers of Enid, Oklahoma have appeared in print, broadcast and internet media around the world.

In spite of their young ages, if found guilty, these girls need to be punished equivalent to the seriousness of their misdeeds and their alleged misdeeds are serious, very serious.  Likewise, the ‘home life’ of these children needs to be investigated in depth and detail.  If these kids are in fact guilty, something went very, very wrong with their lives and we as a society need to know the what and the why of this very troubling case.

This is going to be a ‘make or break case’ for juvenile justice in Oklahoma and it is going to be very interesting to see how it turns out…