May 13, 2008 10:56 pm US/Eastern
Family May Sue MBTA After Welfare Alert
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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The MBTA released this photo to the public in an effort to check up on the child's welfare.
WBZ
After an all out search to find a little girl on the T, one local family says they might sue the MBTA after she was found safe.
The girl was riding the T with her dad last week when another passenger became suspicious of their conversation and their behavior.
MBTA police responded by releasing a photo and asking the public to help identify the man to make sure the girl was OK.
It was the family that came forward.
The girl's father, Aldert Gouw, said he's embarrassed and angry.
Police say they were concerned about the welfare of the child, raising the question of when does protection start and privacy end.
"One person I know came into the store and said, 'Turn on your on TV. You're wanted for kidnapping a kid,' and I said, 'What?'" Gouw explained.
Gouw, 54, had no idea everyone was looking for him. His grainy image was being plastered all over the news.
Riding a bus with a child, a woman thought he was suspicious and she reported him to Transit police, saying he was holding a little girl's hand tight with one hand and a suitcase with the other. The woman also said he was ignoring her pleas for her mother and for food.
"I immediately flipped out when I saw the alert that MBTA police were looking for him and my daughter and they showed them on the bus," said Nathile Hern-Gouw.
The Gouws called police and told them they were the focus of their search and that little girl in the photo was their 4-year-old daughter.
Aldert Gouw said his daughter never said she was hungry on the bus and he never told her to be quiet.
Police questioned the couple privately and then publicly said it was case closed.
"He was inconvenienced momentarily because we wanted to check on the welfare of the child," the MBTA chief, Paul MacMillan said.
Aldert Gouw, a convenience store assistant manager, says he wasn't inconvenienced. He said he was humiliated, and now has hired an attorney and is thinking about suing.
"I can't stay in the store anymore. I'll have to move out of there because people keep looking at you, and they only remember the bad things," he said. "I can move away so I can start all over again."
Things to consider with this case: there were no reports of any missing children and if there was such urgency in finding the child, why did police wait two days to get these alerts out?
"This is irrational, negligent behavior on behalf of the police department, no question," said defense attorney Joseph Chancellor.
The MBTA said it hasn't issued an apology to Gouw.
"We don't feel like we did anything wrong," MacMillan said. "We erred on the side of caution, and we think we did the right job."
Police said they also did the right thing and they would do it again. In this case, that decision may ultimately be up to a jury if the incident ends up going to trial.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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