Prosecutors Decline to Charge the Parents of Young Boy Who Fell Into Gorilla Exhibit
A Hamilton County prosecutor gave a press conference today in Ohio, where he said that his office will not bring criminal charges against the parents of the child who fell into a gorilla’s zoo exhibit recently.
The Cincinnati Zoo has been embroiled in controversy ever since their officials decided to shoot a gorilla named Harambe after a three-year-old boy found his way into the primate’s habitat. The zoo defended its decision by saying the animal posed an immediate threat to the child’s life, but animal lovers have criticized both the zoo for not taking enough preventative action and the parents for taking their eyes off their boy.
Law enforcement was prompted to look into the matter amidst the outrage, but Joseph Deters said they would not proceed with charges against the zoo or the parents.
“If anyone doesn’t believe a 3-year-old can scamper off very quickly, they’ve never had kids,” Deters said.”Had [the boy’s mother] been in the bathroom smoking crack and let her kids run around in the zoo, that would be a different story. But that’s not what was happening here. She is being attentive by all witness accounts, and the 3-year-old just scampered off.”
Deters explained that the summation of evidence in the case suggests that the mother’s actions did not lead to any provable child endangerment of reckless negligence. He also complimented the zoo for making a “painful choice” to protect human life.