by TChris

Not every harm can be or should be remedied by the criminal justice system. This appears to be a case of a misguided prosecution.

A New Jersey man took his mentally disabled son to the beach. His son suffered a severe case of sunburn. The man had applied sunscreen to his son, but didn't apply enough.

The father was plainly careless, but not every act of negligence should be prosecuted as a crime. The man's decision to put sunscreen on his child suggests that he was trying to protect his son from harm. The father might need to be educated about the protective value of sunscreen, and a family court might want to consider whether this father should be allowed to take his son to the beach in the future, but -- unless there's substantially more to the story -- it is a misuse of the criminal justice system to prosecute a man who not only lacked the intent to harm his child but took affirmative steps to prevent that harm.