Indiana Mom Faces Criminal Charge for Letting Her Kids Play in a Creek

An Indiana woman says she was given a citation and a court date after she let her kids play in a creek just a few miles from her house.

Blogger and photographer Linda McGurk described a pleasant-sounding Memorial Day vacation with her family, where she, her husband, and two daughters visited an Indiana state park. The McGurk family followed a trail that led them to a creek, where the children played while their parents observed some raccoon tracks and played in the mud.

Linda McGurk, aka Rain or Shine Mamma

When they were ready to leave, McGurk’s husband and older daughter went ahead of her.  When McGurk arrived at her vehicle, she encountered an officer from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, who was speaking to her husband.

McGurk says she was issued a ticket for “swimming in an unauthorized area,” but was threatened with other charges, such as “disturbing wildlife” and “getting off the trail.”

According to McGurk, the officer acted like he was doing her a favor by being so lenient. “I’m going to let you off easy this time. It may not seem like it, but I really am,” McGurk recounted the IDNR officer saying.

The creek, which was once a Boy Scouts of America camp, regularly had children playing in it for years. McGurk says she tried to explain this to the officer, but quickly realized the futility of doing so.

“That was a long time ago, before this became a nature preserve. The only thing you’re allowed to do here now is walk on the trail. That’s it. We have these rules to keep you safe too. There are some loose rocks, and other dangers. The creek is a health hazard as well. Manure from the farms upstream gets in the creek and the kids can get infected with e-coli.”

McGurk, who has since removed her blog post, pointed out the hypocrisy of a state that allows farmers to dump waste into a creek while giving criminal citations to families who decide to play there in nature.

“If this preserve is so delicate that it can’t take a couple of kids chasing minnows in the creek, why doesn’t the state go after the farmers that are polluting it with agricultural waste?” wrote McGurk. “Which is really the bigger threat to the environment?”