To Dawn,
yes, that's a possibility, but it still doesn't explain the parent's action's of leaving their children, alone and vulnerable, night after night, and you don't get more vulnerable than children. The parent's are intelligent enough to do their homework about the way the world is. I won't even let my 6 yr old play out the front of our home without me watching him, even though I regard the area where I live to be community orientated and reasonably safe, nor would I go to the pub 20 yds across the road for a night out while my 6 and 8 yr olds are sleeping. I'm a single parent, the mccanns complain that they were on holiday and needed a break; so do I and countless others, but when you love your children, more than oneself, you are prepared to make these sacrifices, and you make them with grace; not dumping them in an apartment and abandoning them to the "wolves". or as the case may be .......