back to article Mom stole daughter's ID to shake pom-poms

A 34-year-old mother who stole her teenage daughter's identity and used it to enroll in high school to pursue her dream of becoming a cheerleader was yesterday committed to three years in a psychiatric unit, the Times reports. Wendy Brown. Pic: Brown County Sheriff's Office Wendy Brown (pictured), signed up at Ashwaubenon …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If this was a bloke

    He'd be put on the sex offenders register.

  2. Jared Earle
    Thumb Up

    Catherine Madison? Is that you?

    I saw that episode of Buffy. It introduced Amy.

  3. paulc
    Joke

    well...

    she could always organise a cheer squad at the psychiatry unit...

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But you can trust your parents

    It's a vital requirement of the government's uberdatabase.

  5. Eddy Ito
    Thumb Up

    Could be worse

    At least she didn't do what so many mothers do and live vicariously through their daughter. Why force your daughter into cheerleading or beauty pageants when you can do it yourself. Granted it's a little off either way but this is less likely to scar the poor child since the kid has proof that her mom is a bit bonkers.

  6. Lionel Baden
    Unhappy

    @if this was a bloke commenter

    No need to be anon you are perfectly Correct and there would be a mini civil war if he wasnt given a life sentence as well !!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Let's laugh at psychiatric illnesses

    C'mon El Reg. It's just a sad story, not a funny one. I'm given to believe psychiatric illnesses aren't all that funny if you're suffering from them, whatever school children (or those purporting to be) might think.

    (That said, can I suggest a "Comedy Kids with Cancer" category?)

  8. Mike Groombridge

    @Jared Earle

    didn't amy turn herself into a rat and get stuck like that ? (off topic i know)

  9. Lee
    Paris Hilton

    If she was fit

    rather than a bit of a heffer, would anyone have complained?

    Paris - because her site has great pom-poms right now ;-)

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    But she told me she was 15!

    Working in a school I would like to think I could tell the difference between a 15 year old and a 34 year old, but the amount of makeup she would have to cake on to hide the wrinkles and other signs of ageing is the same amount as the average 15 year old girl has to cake on to hide the spots

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    What's wrong with it?

    I sometimes like to dress up as a 15yr old cheerleader at weekends... most senior management and directors do it!

  12. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: @if this was a bloke commenter

    Er, I'd think it would depend on whether he had sexual motives or not, as she clearly didn't.

    Can we have one thread that doesn't turn into some madly paranoid feminazi-bonfire?

  13. Pete Dixon

    If someone is mentally ill

    How can it be predicted that it will take 3 years to fix? I spent 2 weeks on a ward with on a anti-depression drug induced manic high and that was enough for me. Three years, especially if you become sane early on, seems especially cruel.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    @Sarah Bee

    er no - intent has nothing to do with the offence (in the UK leastways) check the laws ...

  15. Hans

    So do we have a date for the movie release?

    There's bound to be one surely.

    (Shut-up and don't call me Shirley . . yeah, yeah, we know . . .)

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Yeah, but no, but yeah...

    Doesn't she look just the teensiest bit like Vikki Pollard?

  17. N1AK

    @Sarah Bee

    I think the point was exactly that it wouldn't matter whether he had sexual motives or not. That a male pretending to be 15 and using false ID to get into a position where he 'might' be able to do something would be enough for a lot of people to get into a frenzy.

    You are right that a lot of threads are going down the 'us poor men' road at the moment though, I tend to agree with the underlying logic but don't think it has to dominate every thread with a tenious link.

  18. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: @Sarah Bee

    OK, but it's still muy lame to start bleating about her not being immediately stuck on a sex offenders' list.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Sarah Bee

    Yes, why not?

    Maybe we can make it the same thread that doesn't turn into a madly paranoid won't someone think of the nutters/stupid/<insert your preferred obsession here> bonfire. (Yep that's you AC14:32).

  20. Danny
    IT Angle

    @If someone is mentally ill

    If the doctors decide she's stable and safe enough for society they can petition the court to reduce her sentence (unlike people sent to prison). The court has to pick a term and 3 years is typical for non-violent offenses.

    And the story is a bit funny if in a twisted fashion. I'd point out that people getting dead *shouldn't* be funny but the annual Darwin Awards is a well visited site.

  21. HFoster
    Thumb Down

    Hold on one cotton-picking second...

    Three years in a mental hospital?

    Since when was hospitalisation based on time? Surely she should be in until treatment is completed? I mean, if you go in for emergency heart surgery, you aren't subject to a time limit, so why should you be time limited for mental health issues?

    It sounds like the mental health system in that state (at least) is like a poor extension of the prison system, (ab)used as a possibly under-regulated, under-inspected place to keep unbalanced criminals, rather than actually treating people so that they hopefully cease to be a danger to themselves and those around them.

    I'm frankly disgusted by the thought that mental health issues are still treated like some sort of plague in the 21st century.

  22. Matt Devney
    Coat

    @Re: @Sarah Bee (at Sarah Bee, I think)

    "muy lame to start bleating"

    I take it you have met at least one man. We're all like that. Surprised you hadn't noticed.

    You were still wrong though weren't you? I don't think the 'OK' at the beginning of your retort qualifies as acknowledging this fully, do you?

    All men have a tendency towards the pedantic too...

  23. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: @Re: @Sarah Bee (at Sarah Bee, I think)

    Well, I didn't have the whole legal acknowledgement disclaimer to hand. I figured 'OK' would do in the circumstances (ie that I could just have rejected any comments daring to point out any wrongnesses on my part).

    I met a man once. It wasn't memorable.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Re: @Re: @Sarah Bee (at Sarah Bee, I think)

    You ain't met ME yet baby! ;-)

    AC, 'cos otherwise they'd all want some! :-D

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    re:@@@

    I met a man once. It wasn't memorable.

    I nominate this for best comment 2009.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Re: @Re: @Sarah Bee (at Sarah Bee, I think)

    just let me apologise before hand; this is in the catagory of "your mum" come backs.

    "I met a man once. It wasn't memorable."

    Yeah, but that was a billy goat.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    @Sarah Bee

    "madly paranoid feminazi-bonfire" - now that's a good idea for a pr0n film....lol

  28. fran
    Coat

    Lieutenant Crocker?

    So where's Kojak then?

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    @Sarah - paranoid feminazi-bonfire

    Just had to open that damn nazi door, did you?

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    You know it's sad

    This woman may well and truly be nuts but given her background I very much doubt it and I'm stunned they gave the three years in a hospital. This is the kind of crap that often keeps people who are mentally ill and genuinely need that space in the hospital from getting in. It also quite possibly means someone who is actually in need of treatment ends up in jail cell where they don't belong because grifters like this woman found an easy way out of their sentence. I swear I don't know how our legal system gets so far off the rails sometimes but I suspect it's got lots to do with bottom feeding lawyers.

    BTW, Who can at El Reg can I write to petition that Sarah get hazard pay for moderating article comments. She deserves it after dealing with all of us (myself included).

  31. Nano nano
    IT Angle

    The (sex offenders) Register

    IIRC wasn't a bloke put on el (s.o.) Reg due to taking a leak in a shop doorway at night ?

    PS no offence to the Real Reg !!!

  32. Geoff Kennedy

    Sounds like the makings for good TV...

    Strangers with Candy, anyone?

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    We are all criminals

    The cop in the article (and all of his ilk, methinks) is genetically incapable of believing that actions taken by members of the public have no underlying criminal motives - do not forget that we are all criminals in their eyes.

    Any sane person is able to understand that her actions were clearly not criminal. But, oh no - "guilty until proved innocent" is how it works today. For example, the guy in this thread who says he likes "to dress up as a 15yr old cheerleader at weekends" needs to be careful. If the police had any opportunity whatsoever he would be in a cell pending investigations of X, Y and Z. Somehow the media would find out and that would be the end of his job, his career. Is that how it should be - in a so-called civilised, caring society?

    We don't need harsher sentences - we need more resources and thought put into the rehabilitation services (for criminals and people with mental problems). Let's begin with the premise that people are basically 'good', occasionally needing help when they fall by the wayside. The bad guys can easily be spotted (unless the professionals involved are completely naive and stupid) and can be dealt with as society sees fit.

    There are too many individuals languishing in prisons and mental institutions who really should not be there. And if that isn't your cup of tea, well think about the vast quantities of taxpayer's money that is involved in housing them there to no good purpose.

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    @ Sarah Bee (another)

    "madly paranoid feminazi-bonfire"

    Surely you mean "lesbian spank inferno"?

  35. Squits
    Thumb Up

    Anyone doing IT?

    Should be shot, this is in bootnotes, same as most of the Entertainment ones.

    Piss of and get a sense of humour, I'm sick of it, not now, but a year ago.

    Twats.

  36. le jono
    Alien

    34? disgusting

    What the hell?

    Reminds me of that episode of peep show, where mark steals some history education

    ha brilliant

  37. Steve Smith
    Pirate

    3 years

    Obviously, she has some very good healthcare insurance if they've sentenced her to 3 years.

    Lucky for her that chiropractors don't treat mental illness. 3 years of being punched, cracked and prodded would be excessive punishment, imo.

  38. Hollerith

    34 isn't that old

    This poor woman really can't go stealing people's ID, but otherwise is was no different from men beginning to feel youth slip away and rushing out to buy a Kawasaki, etc etc.

    On the point, chaps: if a 34 year man had borrowed his daughter's ID to be a cheerleader, would you really have bought that? 'But officer, I was only studying her pom pom work...'

    p.s. 34 is not old. It is not even wrinkly. Now, if she'd been 44, I would have been impressed.

  39. Justin White
    Coat

    Re: @Re: @Re: @Sarah Bee (at Sarah Bee, I think)

    /quote "madly paranoid feminazi-bonfire" - now that's a good idea for a pr0n film....lol

    Sounds strangely reminiscent of the infamous "Lesbian Spank Inferno", but I digress.

    Mines the one with the severely-used video tape in the pocket.

  40. Benny
    Thumb Down

    Im sure

    I read this a few months back, in (most probably) the Sun. Might not have been the same story, but it definately rings some bells.

    Im sure I also remember a bloke doing it, but im not sure if it was a CSI epsisode or real life...I should get out more and stop *working* ahem..

  41. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @AC

    "Surely you mean "lesbian spank inferno"?"

    I have that on Laser Disc, you know...

  42. Tim Schomer

    @ Im Sure

    Yes it was in CSI New York, 30(ish) bloke played a 17 year old student to prey on young girls. Couldn't tell you what series/episode, but I've definitely seen it more than once.

    Makes a change from the teenage daughter nicking the mum's ID to buy booze though....

  43. Tony

    @Let's laugh at psychiatric illnesses

    'psychiatric illnesses aren't all that funny'

    You are right AC - There is nothing funny about veganism, jogging or Mac ownership. They are serious (but thankfully treatable) illnesses.

    Some of the others are hillarious though.

  44. Nick Pettefar

    Not Sexual?

    How do we know that she did not have a sexual motive? I believe that some women are interested in girls (I read it somewhere)... Maybe she gets a high from being with girl, I guess she was in the changing rooms with them at least. As a parent of a girl I would especially question the motive of any woman that wanted to be with girls.

    If this is a sensitive subject then why was it reported on El Reg and left open for comments? This is a free-for-all, surely?

  45. Mister_C
    Coat

    Jumping (belatedly) onto the bandwagon

    "I met a man once. It wasn't memorable."

    Can't see that topping the hit parade. Don't got the same hook (or video remix possibilities) as Ms Perry's recent whatsit

  46. pctechxp
    Coat

    @Evil Graham

    Yea but no but yaah but shut up

  47. steogede

    Re: If this were a bloke

    I was thinking the exact same thing, so I thought I would lookup the story from last year of a man doing a similar thing in the UK, which is what we all clearly had in mind. The story is here:

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/jail-for-man-who-posed-as-schoolboy-for-underage-sex-924059.html

    Turns out the police didn't even charge him, nor did they recommend treatment or sectioning (when he was 19). They did charge him for having sex with a 12 year old girl, sometime later (when he was 21/22). However they turned a blind eye to the faking of the birth certificate and enrolling at the school. So I think we can all safely get off our high horses.

    BTW, the tone of the article seems to imply that the parents thought it was okay for their 12 year old daughter to sleep with him, when they thought he was 16, but not now they know he was 21. I know that teenagers (or near teenagers) can be difficult, but whether he was 16, 21 or 12, surely they have a responsibility to put a stop to it.

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