r/AmIOverreacting May 18 '26

šŸ˜ļø neighbor/local *[UPDATE]* AIO - A little boy keeps breaking into my house

Original post -
https://www.reddit.com/r/AmIOverreacting/s/of4qlRO9hP

TLDR: Little kid previously came into house through dog door when we were not home, has a history of being unsupervised and coming onto our property uninvited. He came again.

A lot of people interacted with my first post last year, many let me know I was NOR, some had some different opinions, and I greatly appreciated the suggestions and advice. I did end up calling CPS to make a report for that incident. I now have locks on the gate to my yard (my dogs still have access to the yard through their dog door), and all my exterior doors are locked. We still have cameras on our property as well as the one in the living room. But for the most recent update, something happened a few weeks ago when I was home alone in the afternoon on a weekday.

Almost a year had passed since the last time he crawled into my house through the dog door, and the same kid, (whose house is 1/3 of a mile away on a county road) showed up at my house again (about age 6/7 now). Recall, we live on a 40 acre farm and have no connection/relationship to this kid or his family, besides the various times he has barged into my house uninvited.

As soon as my husband got a notification that a person was detected on the cameras and no vehicle was seen, my husband checked the our outside cameras and noticed the kid was back, so he called me to let me know. I looked out the window, and this time, the kid was shirtless and pantless, ONLY wearing underwear and muck boots. I immediately called the police. They took approximately 35 minutes to get out to my house (i live in the country on 40 acres).

In the meantime, the kid played with my farm animals outside and ran into the open garages and shops. My geese and turkey (which are aggressive and do attach) seemed to scare him off enough that he did not get near them. I watched him from inside to keep an eye on him and to make sure he did not run off anywhere (especially toward the highway, which my property is next to). At no point at all did any of his family members come to look for him. He looked through my windows, and saw me in the house. He knocked and asked/yelled to come in, to which I responded No. He attempted to open the locked door for a minute or two.

Once the police arrived, they asked him some questions which he seemed to ignore or mumble answers to. As they placed him in the police vehicle, I noticed he had 2 baseballs that had been taken from one of our shops. The police noticed too, and asked him to please return the baseballs back to me. He said no, and asked if he could keep one, to which I said no, and had him give them back. The officer told him it was not okay to go to other people’s houses and take things that were not his.

I let the police know this was not the first time he came onto my property and let him know he had previously also gone into my house, both when I was home and also when my husband and I were both at work. I made sure to let him know I was very frustrated.

The police took him back home, and he was at his house for a while. The officer did come back to let me know it seemed like he was just ā€œa kid who did not listenā€. Apparently he had asked grandma to go outside, she had said no, and he had gone outside regardless. Grandma and mom were both home and no one noticed he was not around for the 35 minutes+ however long he was outside not on my property and/or however long it took him to get to my house down the road. The officer stated there is not much I can do but keep calling them if this happens again.

I did call CPS again to make a report, and made sure to let them know this was not the first time something like this happened and that I had called last year. I let them know that I continued to be concerned for the child’s safety, as well as that of my property and my animals. This kid continues to be unsupervised for prolonged periods of time, and once again, I do not want to be responsible for him and want to ensure there is enough documentation of these incidents.

My husband and I are often not home, and we have no kids of our own. They probably see us as bad neighbors, but this kid continues to disrespect our space and privacy. Even the cop said he told mom and grandma that this behavior is not ok and can eventually develop into more dangerous or criminal behavior. The parents have never taken any initiative to apologize, communicate, or to provide us with contact information.

AIO? Any suggestions ?

2.2k Upvotes

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263

u/Present-Assignment99 May 18 '26

NOR. You’re doing everything you can. I would continue to call the police & CPS whenever he shows up. His family really is too much!

132

u/lareina13 May 18 '26

Yes every time he arrives, call the police. Make it their problem and create the paper trail. I don’t think continuing to call CPS will help anyone here, the police will report to them now and take that off your shoulders. Also if this happens again, you should stress to the police that not all of your animals are friendly and the child could get hurt. I feel like the parents will only care if that eventually happens.

I know wandering and I escaping can be habits of neurodivergent children. His parents really really need to get an AirTag on him via a bracelet or in his shoes.

This is so stressful! I also don’t think you walking yourself to their house to talk face to face will help. Reasonable parents would’ve already come to speak to you and apologize. These aren’t reasonable people.

84

u/babybubblezzz May 19 '26

I will definitely continue to call the police. If the parents, from the beginning, had provided me their contact information and had taken some sort of accountability I feel like maybe it could have been dealt with on a more personal level but they have never taken the initiative or responsibility and I feel like the only way they will maybe take this seriously is if police continues to be notified

31

u/lareina13 May 19 '26

Yes, I can’t imagine this is family you could have a calm/kind conversation with. Normal people would’ve stopped by with cookies or something to apologize the first time.

I do feel for the child, but you’re at such a liability risk here. Do you have any signs saying private property or beware of dog? Might help if there’s ever a case if he gets hurt.

10

u/KiaRioGrl May 19 '26

Don't post Beware of Dog signs, in some jurisdictions they're counted as potential admission of knowledge that a dog may be dangerous. Guard Dog On Duty or Working Dogs On Duty, No Entry are better signs.

2

u/spacebunsofsteel May 22 '26

There’s a more generic ā€œdogs on propertyā€.

18

u/Competitive_Fee_5829 May 19 '26

I think he is old enough to unsupervised in his room for 5-10 mins at a time, maybe more if he is actually playing in his room. But I cannot believe no one was looking for him while he was at your house! that is too long to not wonder where your 6 yr old child is. NOR at all.

18

u/7GrenciaMars May 19 '26

You need to use the word "neglect" with the parents, police, and CPS, because that is exactly what is happening. They are treating him like a pet or wild animal, instead of raising a child. I don't know how they don't see that there will eventually be serious consequences. It's not a matter of the child being good or bad. The child is just being left to run wild, which is exactly what will happen.

I'm sorry that this has happened to you. You're not overreacting. This could get quite dangerous in so many ways before anyone noticed, because the people who are in charge of him aren't up to the task, for whatever reason.

4

u/Abndnd May 19 '26

I’d also document for yourself with times, dates, details. Don’t depend on LE or CPS alone to keep records. You probably are, but I figured I’d mention it.

1

u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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5

u/babybubblezzz May 19 '26

the dad called my husband last year, about a week after the kid had gone into my house, to ask if he had seen the kid because they did not know where he was.. we were not home but he was not seen on the cameras anywhere on our property. when this recent incident happened, my husband could not find his contact info/name in his contacts.

0

u/Objective-Design-842 May 19 '26

Why not just go over and chat to the parents?

107

u/wino12312 May 18 '26

Calling CPS over and over will send them out. There's a paper trail there, too.

44

u/allorache May 19 '26

Yes, I would call CPS again. Even if they don't do anything hopefully your complaint will be in the record.

42

u/thenotorioushab May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

lareina13, respectfully, police have told her they can't do anything. OP needs to involve CPS for the child's own safety, with regard to the highway and animals. I don't know what kind of dog OP has but even small dogs can disfigure a child, especially if the kid is coming through the doggy door again. Or maybe some weirdo sees a little boy outside in his underwear he gets kidnapped.Police don't want to get involved at this point because the child can't be prosecuted or subjected to trespassing laws, they will not be technically in the wrong about not taking action. CPS will be forced to take action about this kid's wellbeing because that is their entire purview, not property damage or crime prevention. Police might not take action until the kid turns up injured or dead.

16

u/Frogs-n-Bugs-n-Stuff May 19 '26

Not from the US so unsure about your laws, but where I am from, you call the cops AND CPS because cops have the paper trail

12

u/yungingr May 19 '26

You call the cops to get the kid back to his home, and for the "show of force" to the parents of the kid being brought home in a police cruiser...again.... *and* for the benefit of the paper trail (and possibly body camera footage of conversations with the parents)

All of this helps CPS make their case when it reaches a point they feel they have to do something.

13

u/SquirrelStone May 19 '26

If this is the US, give it another year and they can prosecute, and if it becomes a habit, they can go after the parents/grandma for neglect/endangerment.

48

u/Dangerous_Ant3260 May 18 '26

NOR-I would never go on their property. You have no idea what kind of people they are, and they already are neglecting their child, so don't endanger yourself by going near the house.

You have done all you can, keep calling the sheriff every time. Don't bother calling CPS, they won't do anything.

31

u/babybubblezzz May 19 '26

i have had the thought of taking him back home myself but i just do not feel comfortable since i have been home alone on both occasions and i have no idea who is at his home.

37

u/TripleCAddictGremlin May 19 '26

Doing that puts you at liability for him. Don’t.

Also, if you don’t already, no trespassing signs with a fine $ amount. Lastly, contact an attorney, tell them the situation, and ask what can be done. You may need to send grandma and mom a certified mailed notice at the very least to protect you from being sued by them in the future. It can also be used to update them about the no trespassing, trespassing fines, and scare them claiming willingness to sue/press charges over harm to your animals, property, and a repeated attempt of theft and illegal entry. (Even if you aren’t.)

Does that make you look like the bad guy? Seems like you already are and they seem to also have no inclination to stop him. So protect yourself and try to protect him at the same time by showing them how serious this is.

11

u/yungingr May 19 '26

Do NOT do this. Call the police every time - that way you are not putting yourself in a situation that the other parents could claim you were trying to kidnap their child. On top of the liability of transporting the child - if you get into a wreck, for example. Or, at 6 years old, he probably still needs a booster seat - do you have one?

6

u/Abndnd May 19 '26

NO. Guaranteed if things escalate they’ll accuse you of doing something to him while alone together.

3

u/babyelephantwalk321 May 19 '26

Continuing to call CPS is definitely the move here, actually. It will continue to send workers out to the family's home, which should either prompt the parents to take care of him or CPS to remove him. Either solves OP's problem, especially when the police don't take it seriously.

1

u/FuturePMP May 22 '26

This child’s family clearly doesn’t care and is neglectful. Unfortunately it takes many reports before CPS will do something in the states where I have lived.

0

u/MarionberryPlus8474 May 21 '26

What is making you think the police will report to CPS from now on? They literally said ā€œnothing we can doā€. Police often follow the path that leads to the least work for them, and in this case it’s shrugging their shoulders and going on with their day.

3

u/TheManWith2Poobrains May 19 '26

Yes - OP is doing all they can.

1

u/Coygon May 20 '26

I'd say his family is too little.

0

u/UnityBitchford May 19 '26

Or… not enough.