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Austin Reid Sigg, 17 years old, has been arrested for the abduction and killing of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway. The breakthrough came when his mother made the painful choice of turning him into the police.
Fox News said:

Mindy Sigg sat sobbing, listening to prosecutors tell a court that her 17-year-old son had confessed to the abduction and killing of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway.

While any mother would be devastated, there was an even more heartbreaking wrinkle for Sigg: She was the one who called police.

It was not the only high-profile case this week in which a mother made that painful choice. In New Jersey, Anita Saunders saw something on a Facebook page that led her to call police.

Her two sons, ages 15 and 17, are now charged with murdering 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale, a bike-lover who authorities said was lured to their home with the promise of new parts.

What does it feel like to turn in your child, knowing they could be sentenced to many years in prison? Surely, no one knows but those who've done it.

But a main motivation, according to one criminologist, is simply a desire to do the right thing.

"These are law-abiding people, pro-social people," said Kathleen Heide, professor of criminology at the University of South Florida. "And besides doing the right thing, the parents often want to get their children help."

Read more HERE.

CLICK HERE for Huffington Post's article on Austin Reid Sigg.