Current Event for the Week of 2/26/07
Mom Taught Her 2 Kids To Fake Retardation
A mother used her two children to get more money from Social Security by teaching them at the ages of 4 and 8 to fake retardation. The mother, Rosie Costello, collected over $280,000 in benefits. Her children kept faking retardation into their mid-20's. Her son, Pete, pleaded guilty to the fraud and is facing up to six months in prison and a fine of $59,000. Rosie's sentence has yet to be decided.
Read the article here.
How do you feel about what Costello did to her children? What sentence do you believe Rosie Costello should recieve? Do you think her children should be in trouble because of their mother's mistake?
A mother used her two children to get more money from Social Security by teaching them at the ages of 4 and 8 to fake retardation. The mother, Rosie Costello, collected over $280,000 in benefits. Her children kept faking retardation into their mid-20's. Her son, Pete, pleaded guilty to the fraud and is facing up to six months in prison and a fine of $59,000. Rosie's sentence has yet to be decided.
Read the article here.
How do you feel about what Costello did to her children? What sentence do you believe Rosie Costello should recieve? Do you think her children should be in trouble because of their mother's mistake?
posted by phs_sociology at 4:30 PM
22 Comments:
I think what Mrs. Costello did to her children was wrong on more then one lever. she stole away a good 20 years on their life so she could get more money. that is more then selfish. I think she should get at least double what her son is recieving that she should have to pay back all the money she collected in the long run. Also i think that her children should some sort of punishment. When your 4 and 8 your dont know right from wrong or what exactly your mother is teaching is right or wrong, because your going to expect your mother to teach you right, but once you get into your teenage years you develope moral values that should tell you what you are doing is wrong.
I think that women diffently has some major problems and i think that she was stupid for making her kids do that and i think that maybe in the long run he sons shold of started to come around but i think tht if u fake something for so long u start to believe tht it is real but i dont give them an excuse to still fake retardation and i think the mother should deserve twice as much time in jail then wut her son got.
wow i cant believe someone would acutally do that. Even though it shows she doesnt have any moral values.But all morals aside thats really clever!
I think that this is actually quite amusing, but at the same time wrong. what the lady did to her children was very selfish and for that i feel that she deserves as much time in jail as they can give her. as for her kids i think they deserve some time in jail because eventually you would start to come around and realize that your not retarded. but i do have to admit what she did was funny and clever way to recieve money with a lesser chance of getting caught, but still wrong.
What Costello did to her children is just plain horrible and she should be punished accordingly. I think that she needs to go to jail for a few years if only to teach her a lesson.
Costello's children, assuming that both are over 18, should be put in prison for the amount of time mentioned. I think that they were victims of a sort in this crime, but after a certain age they would be perfectly aware of the crime they were committing. I do believe, however, that the mother should be forced to pay the fine. She was, after all, the one who was receiving the government checks.
I think that Mrs. Costello is rediculous and to be brutally honest she is a horrible person. Teaching your children to be retarded for money is INSANE!! i think it is crazy what people will do for money and this is how you can tell what the world is coming to. I think Mrs. Costello should get a big sentence and as for her children i don't think they should be in for that long, maybe a couple years to teach them that what theyre doing is wrong sinse obviously their mom didn't. At that age they should be aware not to do that but if it is what they have been taught from such a young age they need to get it in their heads somehow.
I think the mother should be responsible for what she had done to her children. NOw that her children are in their 20's they know nothing better than acting as if they are mentally handicaped.
I think the mother should have to pay back all the money the government payed her and that if she doesnt have a job then she should be made to get one so she can pay back all that money. That money could have gone to a more needy family than to her.
I've never in my whole life heard of a situation like this. I think that this crime is of the worst kind. Not only did Mrs. Costello steal money she did it at the expense of her children. Those children could have been seriously psychologically damaged from this. Also it is disrespectful to all people who are actually retarded to do this. I've worked with retarded people and they are good people. What Mrs. Costello did is horrible.
Should her children have to suffer punishment? My answer is no. They were young and were only doing what their mother made them do. I feel bad for them.
i think what Rosie did to her children was wrong. i do not think her children should be punished for something their mother forced...
she has to be pretty money hungry to force her kids to fake being mentally ill... thats wrong. she has taken away her childrens oppertunities, because they had to fake retardation.
just think of what her kids could have learned and been capable of doing...
yes, i believe Rosie should be punished for what she did and i also think she should be in prision for a long time.
ugh... people these days...
It’s crazy what some people will do for money. as if Americans didn't have enough of it already compared to other countries. i don't understand how their were no tests these children had to endure to prove they did have a syndrome or disorder. to collect wouldn't they need to have documented proof of a genetic disorder or shared symptoms with real people suffering? or were the children convincing enough to doctors?
I think what Costello did to her children is unbelievable. However, I also feel bad because she must really need money to go to that length. Maybe not though, maybe she just wanted a little extra cash. Either way it is terrible how she took away some of the best years of her childrens lives by making them act retarded. I think that she needs to go to jail, for how long, I do not know. I do not think the children should be in trouble for their mother's mistake. They were little children, 8 and 4, when this first happened. They grew up not knowing how wrong this was. I don't think her children should be punished; however, I do hope that they learn from her mistake.
I don't think Pete should get anything because he was 8 or 4 at the time that he learned to act that way and probably thought it was the right way to act. He didn't know any better and when he did learn that it is wrong to act like that he came forward and confessed. You would expect your parents to teach you right from wrong so the kids listened to their mom and may not have realized it was wrong until later because she may have sheltered them from the rest of the world. It the mother's fault and I think she should get charged with fraud, child endangerment, and child neglect.
What she did was/is so wrong. How could anyone do that to their on children ? ! I don't think that the boy should be sent to jail for fraud, it's his mother that should be punished. She just stole her childrens life away from them.
I feel Costello is an idiot. She doesn't need to be a parent, or have the rights to be a parent. Retardation is something many children have and it's a very sad matter, and to have your children fake this disease is terrible. Money is truly the root of all evil and drives people to do stupid things. I think she should be in prison for the rest of her life. She'll never be able to pay back 280,000 dollars leaglly. She did it to her self anyway. Yes i do believe they should be in trouble. After a certain age, they know whats right and whats wrong. They could have turned their mother in at any time, yet continued to act retarted.
This woman is, by far, one of the worst case scenarios. Her children are suffering now for what their mother taught them to do at a young age, and that is just horrible. I highly doubt she shared any of the money she got from Social Security with her children, and in the end they have to pay for her scheme. In my opinion she should have to pay back everything they gave her and her children's fines on top of that. Crippling them with an indecent schooling when they were bright children, and then forcing them to face fraud charges on top of that... Deplorable.
This is a horrible thing to do, your teaching your kids how to get money by lieing. She is a sick person for even considering getting money this way. that money is for parents who need it, because they need to buy medication and things for their child. She can go out and get a job and yet she decided to get her money this way...thats just wrong. I dont even know what would make you think of that, like I dont think I would ever just wake up one day and have my kids act like their retarded. Thats also making fun of kids who are retarded and have other problems.
Man that lady is really messed up. Well the mother should definately spend some hard time for awhile, and her children should get some time in jail too, but over all their mother is stupid cause she knew she was going to get caught eventually. And all that money she made is now going to be gone.
It is ridiculous to think that a charade like this could go on for so long. The fact that she frauded the government and the good taxpayers out of their dollars for over 200 thousand dollars outrages me. If someone needs money that bad they should consider getting a job instead of using their kids in a way that would take away from them reaching their full potantial in life. The son should get charged but not nearly as much as the mother should because this is what she raised her children to do. They never knew anything different so of course they continued doing what she taught them to do even after they were adults. The money they collected should be paid back in full.
Whew... the things people will do for money, seriously. I definitely think that Mrs. Costello deserves a much harsher punishment than her son because the children were, for the most part, the victims in this situation. I also think the kids should have some sort of punishment because they knew right from wrong as they got older. Sure at first they might not have, but as they got older, they knew what they were doing was wrong.
I think that was Costello did to her children is inhumane. No one should ever to do this to any human being. Someone with no morals would be the only humans capable of committing this crazy action. I am not sure exactly what sentence she should recieve, but she should have severe consequences. I absolutely dont think that Costello's children should not be in any trouble. Thats the way they were raised to be. They've done this majority of their lives, and they probably dont know any different.
This is soooo bad and wrong that i think this women needs slapped retarded!!! I feel she needs to be greatly punished because that is not something to mess around with. There is many disabled people out there and that money could of helped one that doesnt already have help.. This is absurd and this women will burn in hell for what she did!!!
This is crazy. She is doing so much wrong that i think she should be put in jail for life. Not only is she scamming the govt. for money, but she is ruining her childrens lives by making them be thing way. I have never heard of anything like this before.
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