Parents sue Wal-Mart over kids bath photos

[emperor_black]

Forget taking pictures of neighbors kids playing with our kids. Now we cant take pictures of our own kids?

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-18953-San-Diego-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m9d18-Parents-sue-WalMart-over-kids-bath-photos

[Austinrocks]

Remember a grandmother going to jail for taking pictures of her grand kids in the bath.

[Honga Man]

Stories like this make me really sad about the world my children will grow up in.

[chrisr777]

Can we please put a limit on the stupidity? I mean, O.K., the policy is to report this. It isn't really WalMart that is at fault here. CPS taking them away for a month is just crazy though. I have pictures of my kids in the bath or just running around naked when they were little. Should I burn them before I get in trouble? They may have some trouble getting my son to leave though, I've been trying since he turned 18.

[Altanon]

Gee, I wonder if "They" could bust me for having some pictures of myself in my underwear when I was a little kid? I stole them from my mom years ago in order to avoid unpleasant surprizes when I brought a prospective girlfriend home.

[emperor_black]

I have pics of my little girl's first bath with grandmom. I can remember that she cried her heart out terrified of the water and all these people (mom, dad, grandparents) yelling at each other telling to hold the kid in the proper way. Those are fond memories man! I ain't destroying those! Now I cant have them developed either! I guess we have to stop going to public places to get them developed and do our own photo printing.

[chrisr777]

I'll get flamed for this, but here goes:

give me a convincing case that you or anyone needs nudies of kids? Sorry, but that "they're at such an innocent age...." line just doesn't fly. Ok, there's no way to stop a kid from running out into the front room during a superbowl party and stripping. But if your friends whipped out their cell phones and started photographing, would you buy the "come on, it's cute when kids do it...." argument?

Kids do a lot of things 'naturally' until they learn the difference between what's appropriate and what's not. To me, though, snapping a picture of a kid's full frontal makes about as much sense as posting a photo of a soiled diaper on a blog. In short, I can think of a lot of reasons why an adult would want to preserve the memory of a kid's nudity, and none of those reasons strike me as very positive. :hide

You obviously have a much lower opinion of your friends than I do.

Besides, what else can my wife whip out to embarass him in front of prospective girlfriends?

[zekmoe]

People are stupid anywhere you go.

[Ud Reks]

Agree this isn't on WalMart. Crazy child services, jeez.

My daughter was nude in front of about 80 people last week, and there were maybe 5 or 6 cameras shooting her baptism.

Wonder if we would have been arrested for that.

Of course I want Walmart reporting this to the authorities. But taking kids away without an expedited investigation is just wrong.

[ACfixer]

As far as Wal Mart's policy, I understand erring on the side of caution and protecting the kids. On the other hand the cops/CPS should have taken one look and realized it was baby photos and not child porn.

Uhhh hello, it's 2009 and there are nuts out there... I say print those pics up at home instead? Duh.

[jazzandmetal?]

I'll get flamed for this, but here goes:

give me a convincing case that you or anyone needs nudies of kids? Sorry, but that "they're at such an innocent age...." line just doesn't fly. Ok, there's no way to stop a kid from running out into the front room during a superbowl party and stripping. But if your friends whipped out their cell phones and started photographing, would you buy the "come on, it's cute when kids do it...." argument?

Kids do a lot of things 'naturally' until they learn the difference between what's appropriate and what's not. To me, though, snapping a picture of a kid's full frontal makes about as much sense as posting a photo of a soiled diaper on a blog. In short, I can think of a lot of reasons why an adult would want to preserve the memory of a kid's nudity, and none of those reasons strike me as very positive. :hide


My daughter likes to play with her bubbles while she is in the bath and sometimes we take pictures of her. It is cute. She hams it up for the camera and has a good time. No big deal.

People who make a big deal about it ( *family fun photos ) are the ones who may have the issues.

*There is a HUGE line between fun photos and placing children in lewd positions and posting them on the internet. One is called family fun and the other is illegal and called kiddie porn.


BTW.....huge difference between my friend taking a picture of my naked daughter in the bath. Why you ask? Because she is MY daughter. It's like how it is okay for you to slap your wifes ass, but not okay for your friend to.....or maybe it is. I don't know you that well.

[Dotneck]

I'll get flamed for this, but here goes:
give me a convincing case that you or anyone needs nudies of kids? Sorry, but that "they're at such an innocent age...." line just doesn't fly.


So what if you don't think its a good idea...there is no reason to take the kids away for what was described. Thank goodness we don't have to convince you unless you are the local DA.

Taking a photo of a kid in a bathtub is harmless....I've seen hundreds of them in my job and if we had a policy like wal-mart the CSB would not have time to do anything but chase down innocent parents.

People need to lighten up, Francis.

[Scott Miller]

I can think of a lot of reasons why an adult would want to preserve the memory of a kid's nudity, and none of those reasons strike me as very positive.

So tell me why I have a picture of my infant son naked on a turkey platter. What is my nefarious reasoning?

[Luke]

My mother has a full frontal pic of me, age 4, wearing only a sombrero that she felt compelled to show every girl I ever dated seriously

[jazzandmetal?]

So tell me why I have a picture of my infant son naked on a turkey platter. What is my nefarious reasoning?

LOL! I don't want to derail, but that HAS to have a funny story behind it.

[donnievaz]

I'll get flamed for this, but here goes:

give me a convincing case that you or anyone needs nudies of kids? Sorry, but that "they're at such an innocent age...." line just doesn't fly. Ok, there's no way to stop a kid from running out into the front room during a superbowl party and stripping. But if your friends whipped out their cell phones and started photographing, would you buy the "come on, it's cute when kids do it...." argument?

Kids do a lot of things 'naturally' until they learn the difference between what's appropriate and what's not. To me, though, snapping a picture of a kid's full frontal makes about as much sense as posting a photo of a soiled diaper on a blog. In short, I can think of a lot of reasons why an adult would want to preserve the memory of a kid's nudity, and none of those reasons strike me as very positive. :hide

Unbelievable. I always wondered what the hell people are thinking when I read stories like this. Now I've seen it first hand.

BTW, I didn't see full frontal mentioned anywhere in the article. :messedup

[donnievaz]

So tell me why I have a picture of my infant son naked on a turkey platter. What is my nefarious reasoning?

That's hilarious :rotflmao

[jazzandmetal?]

yes, yes, true enough. I'm sure it's just me. I should have said something along the lines of "while many people enjoy taking and looking at photos of naked children, it's not my cup of tea, and I guess I simply don't see the appeal." Sort of like some people are into Fender, others, Gibson. Either way, I should not have been so judgemental, and I apologize if I offended (I'll tidy up the offending post). :beer

Not offended at all. And that made me laugh out loud!:rotflmao

[twinrider1]

....huge difference between my friend taking a picture of my naked daughter in the bath. Why you ask? Because she is MY daughter. .....

Ha, yes, this is true. I just wouldn't have a friend in the bathroom when I'm giving my kids a bath. But if we were having a cookout and my toddler dropped his shorts and ran across the yard, I wouldn't mind if a friend took a pic, as long as he gave it to me and didn't keep it for himself.
Can I give a logical reason why there is a distinction? No. But I know I'm right. It just is.

I would go absolutely ballistic if anyone tried to take my kids. I think my heart would explode. I'd want to take someones head off. If I could keep calm I'd contact every media outlet I could, shine as much light on children's services as possible.
I hope they sue the city and win.

[Dotneck]

I would go absolutely ballistic if anyone tried to take my kids. I think my heart would explode. I'd want to take someones head off. If I could keep calm I'd contact every media outlet I could, shine as much light on children's services as possible. I hope they sue the city and win.

Do you mean "Take Your Kids" or take a picture of your kids....this thread is about taking pictures of kids....of course, taking your kids is a horrible thing to even consider...but taking a picture of your kids is not so bad....

[twinrider1]

Sorry, I meant 'take my kids' as in the protective services people taking my kids and taking 30 days to straighten it out. I kinda jumped points there without making it clear.
I don't blame WalMart on this deal, I blame children's services.

[jazzandmetal?]

Ha, yes, this is true. I just wouldn't have a friend in the bathroom when I'm giving my kids a bath. But if we were having a cookout and my toddler dropped his shorts and ran across the yard, I wouldn't mind if a friend took a pic, as long as he gave it to me and didn't keep it for himself.
Can I give a logical reason why there is a distinction? No. But I know I'm right. It just is.


I know exactly what you mean. Your friend would probably know you well enough that if your kid did something like that and you didn't have camera in hand to take the pic and give it to you. No harm, no foul.

[Tonefish]

That situation should have been resolved the day the gov got involved.

The true child abuse was taking those kids out of their family for a month.

[PAF]

If Wal Mart is the arbiter of...well...anything in society, I hereby want to move to mars...

[Altanon]

That situation should have been resolved the day the gov got involved.

The true child abuse was taking those kids out of their family for a month.

...was the day it all went to shit.

[Jon Silberman]

Walmart did the right thing (and believe me, you have no clue how much it hurts me even to type those 5 words!). Even if 99/100 times naked kid photos are totally innocent, they did the right thing. It's the cops and child services who f-ed up.

[aeolian]

Was showing this to my wife and she mentioned having pics of her toddlers sitting on the toilet. I know my mom had pic of me like that. Can't remember if I did with my kids (ex has all the pictures) but there's probably at least one.

Do we need to track these down and burn all of them?

My mom did have a pic of me at 2 years old or something laying (belly down) on a small bearskin rug. Thank goodness she's passed away, or I'd have to find it and lock it in a safe deposit box to keep these nuts from prosecuting her.

[Julia343]

America is a very prudish society for an industrialized nation.. but wait, we're undergoing de-industrialization.

[Altanon]

America is a very prudish society for an industrialized nation.. but wait, we're undergoing de-industrialization.

Okay, so we're a very prudish society for a de-industrialized nation, as well.

[solphilcox]

the world is completely retarded.

[Doug H]

I'm still stuck on why are people dropping off memory sticks with photos for "processing" at Wal-Mart? Isn't the part of the point of digital photography being able to "process" your photos at home?!? :messedup

[ACfixer]

I'm still stuck on why are people dropping off memory sticks with photos for "processing" at Wal-Mart? Isn't the part of the point of digital photography being able to "process" your photos at home?!? :messedup

That's what I'm saying. In this day and age of complete nonsense why would you let nekkid pics of the kids ever make it to Wal-Mart? There's another side to this coin, and that is some perv of a photo tech at Wally World could be a kiddie pornster and take copies for their own sick uses. Duh. :nuts

[sundaypunch]

I'm still stuck on why are people dropping off memory sticks with photos for "processing" at Wal-Mart? Isn't the part of the point of digital photography being able to "process" your photos at home?!? :messedup

For some it might be. I personally have no desire to buy a photo printer, ink, etc. and mess with printing at home.

[skydog]

they may have some trouble getting my son to leave though, i've been trying since he turned 18.
bahahahahahaha!

[Tonemeister69]

America, lol

[angrybandnerd]

Things like this that make me thankful that I'm a semi-professional photographer and will never have to deal with this stupidity. I remember one time going to Wal Mart to have some color film processed only since our school labs processor was busted. I came back an hour later with a police officer waiting on me in the electronics dept. to ask me some questions. Here I am thinking they had mistaken me for a shoplifter or something excusable like that, and it was about my film! I had three of my 14 rolls all of two nude models, and as they were gorgeous and young (not too young at the age of 20 though) I was questioned on their age and why i had so many "pornographic images." I was irate and felt so humiliated as they did all of this at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday. Luckily though for me I ALWAYS carry a legal and notarized copy of my rights as a photographer in my camera bag. I pulled it out and handed it to the cop and said "give me my damn film." Sorry for the rant but seesh I hate to see the things we'll have to deal with in ten more years the way we're going with this paranoia.

[jazzandmetal?]

Things like this that make me thankful that I'm a semi-professional photographer and will never have to deal with this stupidity. I remember one time going to Wal Mart to have some color film processed only since our school labs processor was busted. I came back an hour later with a police officer waiting on me in the electronics dept. to ask me some questions. Here I am thinking they had mistaken me for a shoplifter or something excusable like that, and it was about my film! I had three of my 14 rolls all of two nude models, and as they were gorgeous and young (not too young at the age of 20 though) I was questioned on their age and why i had so many "pornographic images." I was irate and felt so humiliated as they did all of this at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday. Luckily though for me I ALWAYS carry a legal and notarized copy of my rights as a photographer in my camera bag. I pulled it out and handed it to the cop and said "give me my damn film." Sorry for the rant but seesh I hate to see the things we'll have to deal with in ten more years the way we're going with this paranoia.

Yeah.....so I am sending you my email address.:D

[angrybandnerd]

HA! +1

They are gorgeous young ladies, no doubt.

[cottoneyedjoe]

We give light sentences to the people that really need the heavy sentences when it comes to negligence and child abuse, but we have the time to prosecute two parents who might actually take care of their kids?

There is right, there is wrong, and there is the truth. The problem lies in knowing how to discern one from the other and making the right choices related to the problems.

This will keep happening until we either self implode or self destruct. We don't have to worry about enemies, we do enough good bashing ourselves.

[Passenger84]

Wow. This reminds me of that scene from Idiocracy, where the mom is at the Carl's Jr. automated burger dispenser, and her credit card is denied. And the machine says, 'Your credit card has been denied. You are an unfit mother. Your children are now in the custody of Carl's Jr.' Sure, that's a comedy about how the world might end up in the future, but sometimes it seems we're actually on our way!

[stratman34]

I have two disposable 35mm cameras that have been in a drawer for years. I've been very hesitant to ever get developed for just such reasons. Most likely the film is bad now anyways.

One, my nephew found at Woodstock '99. Based on his stories, there's no telling what's on it.

The other, was a different nephew of mine. When he was 7 he threw open the shower curtain, snapped a couple of pics of his mother (my sister), and proceeded to run like hell. The camera got mixed in with some others and never surfaced... The one I have may or may not be it.

Not kids, but still stuff that could get us in hot water with getting it developed.

[MudPies]

For some it might be. I personally have no desire to buy a photo printer, ink, etc. and mess with printing at home.

Ditto. I'll take my card to the 1-hour photo, select what I want printed and only pay a few dollars. I have no want or need to pay the high price for equipment that can give me the same quality. The cheap photo printers give you a final product that looks like shit.

[PinoyBoy]

For some it might be. I personally have no desire to buy a photo printer, ink, etc. and mess with printing at home.

"Mess with printing at home"? Unless you are really, really, really technology illiterate... I don't see how anyone can't do it.



I have no want or need to pay the high price for equipment that can give me the same quality. The cheap photo printers give you a final product that looks like shit.

High price for equipment? I think I spent <$200 on my printer, and it's served me well for 3+ years. I tried printing pictures at CVS and Walmart, and compared them to what my printer (HP Photosmart C7280) can do. Hands down... my printer wins.

You guys should try it. It's really not that hard or a hassle at all.

[MudPies]

I spend $20 a year (give or take) on prints so the $200 plus ink replacement is still a waste imo. If I wanted to print 1,000 prints a year it would be a different story.

[PinoyBoy]

I spend $20 a year (give or take) on prints so the $200 plus ink replacement is still a waste imo. If I wanted to print 1,000 prints a year it would be a different story.


Ah, you have a point then. I make albums of the kids' photos (nothing beats something tangible to flip through!), send lots of printed pictures to my parents, aunts, uncles, etc.

[Jahn]

We give light sentences to the people that really need the heavy sentences when it comes to negligence and child abuse, but we have the time to prosecute two parents who might actually take care of their kids?

There is right, there is wrong, and there is the truth. The problem lies in knowing how to discern one from the other and making the right choices related to the problems.

This will keep happening until we either self implode or self destruct. We don't have to worry about enemies, we do enough good bashing ourselves.


Ayep. My 5 year old freaked out when my wife had to leave town for just 4 days on business. I can't imagine what those younger kids went through for a FREAKING MONTH.

Honestly, on Minute One of those guys coming to take my kids I would have been on the horn with my Legislative Representative telling them to make the right calls so my kids were back THAT DAY. Then, the press, then it's sue time. No one backs Baby into the corner!

[MudPies]

Ah, you have a point then. I make albums of the kids' photos (nothing beats something tangible to flip through!), send lots of printed pictures to my parents, aunts, uncles, etc.

Yup. My folks do that too. I have a bazillion pics on my computer and they cycle randomly on my windows sidebar 24/7. The best ones are on walls and in a couple books.

[Doug H]

Yup. My folks do that too. I have a bazillion pics on my computer and they cycle randomly on my windows sidebar 24/7. The best ones are on walls and in a couple books.

Last photo printer I got was free, with an ink cartridge. Yeah, the ink's expensive. I don't print out photos much though. Share them through email, facebook etc...

[mwc2112]

What a stupid story. I hope the parents lose their suit against Walmart. There is absolutely no way that Walmart should unilaterally decide what is decent and what is not. If they were to let something like this slip and then it was later determined that it was not on the up-and-up they'd be sued for that too. The authorities are the ones to blame here.

[bkd_guitarist]

Big :Spank for the authorities - CPS, the cops, the AG's office. This is the kind of thing you look into for two minutes and drop. I'd say that I hope the couple wins their suit against the gub'mint, but that would just hit the taxpayers. The government officials responsible should be held accountable, to include suspensions and/or firings.

Medium :Spank for Wal-Mart. Their policy should allow some room for store management to exercise discretion as to what gets turned over to the cops. I know they're just covering their ass, but the "turn everything over" policy goes too far. Not only did it subject parents to unnecessary hassle, but it wasted police resources. I DO hope the parents win this suit, if for no other reason that causing Wal-Mart to reconsider the policy.

Small :Spank for the parents. They've been subjected to an ordeal that's as ridiculous as it is harrowing. Nonetheless, in this day and age, in our incredibly oversensitive, uptight, PC society, you must always be on guard with respect to your kids. Anything you do or say in a public environment can come back to haunt you. My wife and I never took our digital baby photos to a developer, for this exact reason.

[Doug H]

Small :Spank for the parents. They've been subjected to an ordeal that's as ridiculous as it is harrowing. Nonetheless, in this day and age, in our incredibly oversensitive, uptight, PC society, you must always be on guard with respect to your kids. Anything you do or say in a public environment can come back to haunt you. My wife and I never took our digital baby photos to a developer, for this exact reason.

As long as I can remember it was always "taboo" to take nude photos to get developed at a public film developer. It's at least been this way since the Fotomat days when I was a kid. Add in the concerns about sexual stuff with children these days- it seems like at least a sort of stupid thing to do, dropping off nekkid kid pictures at a Wal-Mart. Now consider the fact that these days it's ridiculously easy to "process" photos at home.

Something tells me these parents aren't exactly brainiacs...

[phillygtr]

It's not just Wal-Mart, it's all these chain stores. They all have similar policies and they don't want their minimum wage employees making judgement calls. The funny thing is, all the screwballs know this and print their stuff at home. Only innocent parents who think it's cute bring their nekkid kid photos to Wal-mart.

Exactly. Here's the deal: there are people who don't care if you believe you are acting innocently or think it's no big deal. They do and they have power. And will use it against you to make sure you understand their way of seeing the world. If you don't, you'll face the consequences.

[Rattles]

I would think most parents have pictures of their kids in the bathtub....I know I do. Nothing sexual about it at all....just something parents find cute.

[ImmortalSix]

Stories like this make me really sad about the world my children will grow up in.
x2

:worried

[Jon Silberman]

Next month, someone different will start his own thread about how an adult assumed a naked kid pic was innocent resulting in ongoing child abuse continuing and we'll pile on the putdowns in that one, too, probably not even remembering this thread.

I stand by my original position. Walmart is blameless (and no, it's not becoming easier to say that!). The fault for the response lies with the followup authorities.

[PinoyBoy]

I stand by my original position. Walmart is blameless (and no, it's not becoming easier to say that!). The fault for the response lies with the followup authorities.


Agree completely. Yes, the rulebook might state that pictures with so and so are to be classified as X and you should call ABC. However, those called were in a position to investigate and understand the context, and unless there's something terrible in those pictures that we don't know, geez, I don't understand who anyone could take away someone's kids for a month.

[sodapopinski]

Who still develops photos? Digital anyone?

[Dotneck]

Who still develops photos? Digital anyone?

I shoot digital and still get hundreds and hundreds of prints made at the local photo retailer.. We like prints. We share them. My wife scrapbooks with them. The quality is better and cheaper and last longer when I get prints made from a Fuji Frontier mini-lab than on any inkjet printer.

One pass through photoshop to crop and color correct than off to the printer. My wife was complaining to me that our last print job from the photo store (about 600 prints) was missing about 150 frames from our last vacation...so I'm going back tonight to order the missing prints...

Yes, people still get lots of photos developed...

[dougk]

Gee, I wonder if "They" could bust me for having some pictures of myself in my underwear when I was a little kid? I stole them from my mom years ago in order to avoid unpleasant surprizes when I brought a prospective girlfriend home.

Believe me I wish I had thought of that oh-so-many years ago :jo

[Loop-Master]

Parents sue Wal-Mart over kids bath photos

This is freakin' ridiculous. I hope they win big and it is spread all over the news.

[Pally]

Gee, I wonder if "They" could bust me for having some pictures of myself in my underwear when I was a little kid?
It's coming to that. A teenage girl was charged recently with a sex crime, because she emailed nude photos of herself to friends. The kids today--they call it "sexting."

If convicted, she would have to register as a sex offender wherever she goes, for the rest of her life. I think cooler heads prevail, and the charges were dropped...this time.

[phillygtr]

So she exploited herself?
It's coming to that. A teenage girl was charged recently with a sex crime, because she emailed nude photos of herself to friends. The kids today--they call it "sexting."

If convicted, she would have to register as a sex offender wherever she goes, for the rest of her life. I think cooler heads prevail, and the charges were dropped...this time.