Karyann Parkinson, who was eight months pregnant and studying for the bar exam at the time, had gone on a bike ride with her 5-year-old son, Sam, back in June. They stopped so he could collect goose feathers near the community pond inside their Virginia gated community.
When they got home, Sam asked if he could go back for more feathers, and since this was one of his favorite activities, his mom, who has been a foster parent and a parenting coach, said yes. So Sam set out on a half-mile walk on a sidewalk through the gated community.
Unfortunately, a passerby spotted Sam and alerted security. A security guard then escorted Sam home. Soon after, three police cars arrived, along with two Child Protective Services workers. CPS investigated Parkinson for abuse and neglect and eventually placed her on Virginia’s child abuse and neglect registry.
Fortunately, Parkinson’s six-month jail sentence was immediately suspended pending good behavior and compliance with CPS conditions. The conviction stands, however, and Parkinson worries this might impact her volunteer time at her kids’ school — and potentially prevent her from getting her law license.
It is probably worth noting that Parkinson worked for former Virginia state Sen. Jill Vogel [R], who was a co-sponsor of a “reasonable childhood independence” act that became Virginia law in 2023. It defines neglect as putting a child in serious, obvious danger.
Prosecutors ignored this law and decided instead to charge Parkinson with contributing to delinquency of a child. One of Parkinson’s advocates said, “Delinquency? Is the kid going to rob banks at 14 because he collected feathers at age five?”
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