Out My Window

Lisa and A.J. Demaree brought the memory stick from their digital camera into the Walmart in Peoria, AZ, in order to have their family vacation photos developed. Among the photos were several taken during the kids' bath time, which led Walmart employees to call the police. Because the Demarees' three children, all of whom are under 5, were naked or partially naked in the photos, the police accused the couple of sexual abuse and child pornography. The children were taken away by Child Protective Services during the investigation.

Thanks Walmart, You are once again our moral compass, keeping us safe from perverts of the world.

During the investigation, the police found no evidence that the Demarees were anything but loving parents. "In fact, the parents were shocked when the police came to the door and the CPS came to the door; they were wondering why they were doing this," said Richard Treon, attorney for the Demarees. "And the ultimate irony of this whole thing is, the mother of the children is a trained interventionist as a school teacher to assist families and children where the children are being abused."

Mrs. Demaree was unable to work for nine months because she had been charged with sexual abuse. The three children spent more than a month in foster care. Attorneys for the state, it has been claimed, defamed the character of the Demarees in front of more than 35 friends, family members, and co-workers. Furthermore, Treon estimates that the family has spent more than $100,000 defending themselves in various courts. As well child abusers should be handled.

But... The Demarees were never prosecuted.

Now the Demarees have filed two lawsuits. One against the state of Arizona, Peoria and the state Attorney General's Office, claiming defamation of character and emotional stress. The second lawsuit is against Walmart, claiming that the company is at fault for not properly disclosing its "unsuitable prints" policy. Mostly, the suit centers on the claim that Walmart was acting as the morality police. "The people who work in the Wal-Mart doing the processing are usually very inexperienced, very uneducated people who have little or no background in life generally and certainly no expertise in deciding what photographs are sexually exploitative of children," Treon points out. "It puts the clerk in the position of becoming the moral censor for the police and for society, and that's not what Wal-Mart clerks should be hired to do or empowered to do. This is every parent's nightmare, what happened to this couple, and the grandparents and the whole family and the whole community."

OMG! What would happen if Walmart ever found my son's birthing pictures? Excuse me, I have some burning to do.