Margery Tannenbaum, a 40-year-old social worker from Hauppauge on Long Island, NY, found herself in First District Court in Central Islip last week after being arrested in May for allegedly posting a classified ad for sex in the "casual encounters" section of Craigslist.com.
Posting an ad for sex isn't a crime, but Tannenbaum wasn't posting the ad for herself.
It appears that Tannenbaum believed her 9-year-old daughter was being harassed by a schoolmate at a Hauppauge elementary school, so in an act of revenge, Tannenbaum placed the ad that read, "I need a little affection. I am blonde and very cute! I'll be waiting." When men looking for sex on Craigslist emailed her, she provided them with the phone number of her daughter's young classmate.
According to Suffolk County authorities, the mother of the girl intercepted calls before her daughter answered. She said she received 22 calls in one day, in all around 40 calls from various men who saw the ad, including some seeking an escort service. After Craigslist was issued a subpoena, authorities said they were able to track the account to Tannenbaum.
In court documents read aloud by Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota, the 9-year-old's mother described one of the phone calls she received from a man responding to the ad.
She said, "This is her mother. Can I help you?" The male replied, "Oh. Hot lady lives with foxy mamma?"
The caller hung up after the girl's mother told him the "hot girl" he was referring to was 9 years old.
When asked about the case, Tannenbaum's attorney, Tad Scharfenberg, said, "I think this has been blown out of proportion to what the actual alleged act was."
He described Tannenbaum as "a well-loved woman by both family and friends," and said she was a classroom mom at her daughter's school.
"She's never been in any trouble for anything before," Scharfenberg said. "She's just really upset by the whole thing. Her biggest concern has always been that this not materially affect the victim or her child. She wants to make sure the way it's being handled doesn't make that worse."
In an interview with News 12, the victim's mother said she was "horrified."
"It's scary to think that someone would take any issue and attack your child."
Tannenbaum, who appeared in court with her husband Glenn, was arraigned on charges of aggravated harassment and new charges of endangering the welfare of a child. It's unclear if Tannenbaum's husband was involved in — or even knew of — her vengeful plot. But what's very clear is that the Tannenbaum's aren't likely to be voted parents of the year.
The criminal complaint also states that Tannenbaum used her computer to subscribe to at least eight magazines, a book and DVD to be sent to the victim's home.
How much do you want to bet that DVD wasn't a Disney movie?
Tannenbaum, who has been licensed as a clinical social worker since 1992, according to the state Education Department's Office of the Professions, was released without bail and is due back in court on July 16.
Tannenbaum's actions are reminiscent of the deeds of Lori Drew, the cyberbully Mom, who in 2008 was convicted of three misdemeanor charges of computer fraud for her involvement in creating a phony account on MySpace to trick a teenager, who later committed suicide.
"Blown out of proportion"? I think not.
i loved the comments by the womans lawyer:
"She's never been in any trouble for anything before," Scharfenberg said. "She's just really upset by the whole thing. Her biggest concern has always been that this not materially affect the victim or her child. She wants to make sure the way it's being handled doesn't make that worse."
excuse me? lady you did this to this child and the damage is DONE. it is your fault and all your fault and nothing you say or do is going to mitigate the circumstances.
2 nine year olds had an argument and you decided to give out contact information to strangers over the internet who were replying to a sexually implied advertisment on a place where people go for such things.
theeis no excuse unless it is mental illness and even then she should have known not to do it.
she needs to be locked up.
Posted by: RICK | July 06, 2009 at 02:31 PM
i hope she sent porn to that kid in the kids name. she will never ever get out of prison.
Posted by: RICK | July 06, 2009 at 02:34 PM