'AITA for grabbing a runaway toddler?' 'I owe her ten grand for the trauma.'
"AITA for grabbing a runaway toddler?"
I (29M) was shelving books near the front windows of the public library when I saw a little kid waddle straight out the automatic doors toward a busy four-lane street, no adult in sight.
I dropped the stack I was holding, sprinted outside, scooped her up just as she stepped off the curb, and carried her back inside. Security phoned the police and they showed up, reviewed the cameras, and thanked me for preventing what looked like a sure accident.
Ten minutes later the mother burst in, red-faced and screaming that I “kidnapped” her daughter. She demanded my full name, took pictures of me and the badges of the officers, and kept yelling that I had “no right” to touch her child.
When the cops calmly explained what happened she shifted gears, claimed her toddler was “never in real danger,” and insisted I owe her ten grand for the trauma of seeing “a strange man” holding her baby.
Now she has plastered my photo all over the local Facebook group calling me a predator, keeps emailing the library demanding I be fired, and has threatened a lawsuit for emotional distress.
My manager believes the footage clears me but HR still wrote an incident report “just in case.” I can’t shake the feeling this could get uglier even though the police literally thanked me. AITA?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
Either_Management813 said:
Were it me and if your boss or the head of the library approves I’d contact a local tv station and have them run a human interest story complete with a clip of the camera footage. Or sue her for defamation since she made public posts that could affect you for future jobs.
lapsteelguitar said:
In your shoes, I would be getting a lawyer & suing for defamation, etc. I mean, you probably did save her kids life. And where was she that it took 10 minutes for her to show up? She certainly wasn't watching her kid. NTA in regards to saving the kid. Time to be the ahole in terms of punishing the mother for her sh#$.
ijustlikebeingnosy said:
HR has to take the report, don’t read into that too much. The lady is lucky the cops didn’t charge her.
LeylaJoyride said:
You’re so NTA it’s ridiculous. anyone with half a brain knows you did the right thing. that mom’s probably just embarrassed she lost track of her kid and is lashing out. Honestly, don't let toxic ppl gaslight you when you did something good. Keep doing you, and don’t let the online mobs get to your head.
HeaEuroShrub said:
NTA. Where was that mom for the ten minutes between the rescue and coming in guns blazing? I get that sometimes kids wander off, but maybe counter threaten to contact DCFS for neglect and endangerment if she continues this harassment.
browneyedredhead1968 said:
I'd talk to an attorney. That's slander, she could have to pay you damages. The attorney should at least be able to send a cease and desist letter.
Plenty-Toe875 said:
Obviously NTA. Sounds like she set this up for a payday honestly.
BecGeoMom said:
Contact a lawyer. She is slandering you all over town, calling you a “predator” and claiming you tried to kidnap her child. She has not acknowledged that you saved her baby, insisting there was never any danger. You watched that child leave the library alone, and then the mother burst into the library screaming like a banshee.
Where was she? Not in the library. What was her daughter doing in the library alone? She’s a toddler. It’s time for you to take charge of this and file charges against that woman. What she’s doing is libel. She put it in writing on Facebook for everyone to see. Talk to a lawyer. NTA. Of course.