12 Year Old Caught Shoplifting at Sears

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan
My 12 year old son and his 14 year old friend got caught shoplifting at Sears. My son is a 3.6 GPA student and should know better, however he says his friend talked him into it and made it look easy! His friend told him to put a couple things in his pocket and he did... his friend had over $300.00 worth of merchandise and my son had $80.00 worth of things! After I was notified, I immediately went up there.. his friend was already gone and the LP of Sears had me sign some things.. one was a "NO trespassing" form stating he is banned from Sears, the Mall and the malls property for LIFE! No police were called, however she said she had to give the local police dept. a copy of everything, and I can expect court papers in the mail and I can expect to pay anywhere from 3x up to 10x the amount of the merchandise! He could be placed on a year probation with some kind of class with random drug testing.. resulting me to pay about $1000.00!! On one of the papers it was stated that he merchandise was still saleable...(he did not do any harm to it).
Now, 5 days later, I received a letter from the police stating that they have received the complaint and that they have decided to let my son off with a warning and to let me discipline him accordingly..
So my question is... as far as legally, is this all over? Since the police has decided to let him off with a warning will there be a court hearing? What will happen next?
My son is in MAJOR trouble with me.. forbidden to ever see or hang out with this kid again, grounded for the entire summer, phone, ALL video games, computer, internet, TV, etc... have been taken away!! He will be writing a letter to Sears apologizing for his wrong doings and a letter to the police thanking them for giving him a chance and reassuring them that he will never do anything like this again!!
He is a good kid who made a VERY BAD decision... any advice would be appreciated!

I would say from what you wrote the legal issue, as far as criminal charges, is over. You can expect a Civil Demand that is a civil matter. The ban from the store and the mall is also separate from the criminal matter. After a period of time you may get the ban lifted, but in cases where I did so I mandated the juvenile be accompanied by an adult family member.

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My son is in MAJOR trouble with me.. forbidden to ever see or hang out with this kid again, grounded for the entire summer, phone, ALL video games, computer, internet, TV, etc... have been taken away!! He will be writing a letter to Sears apologizing for his wrong doings and a letter to the police thanking them for giving him a chance and reassuring them that he will never do anything like this again!!

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As a fellow parent, please accept my compliments on BEING A PARENT, instead of trying to be a friend!! Too many "parents" make excuses for their kids... You seem to be right on top of things here. Good luck!

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Quoting tigerdog

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As a fellow parent, please accept my compliments on BEING A PARENT, instead of trying to be a friend!! Too many "parents" make excuses for their kids... You seem to be right on top of things here. Good luck!

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I applaud you as well. May I just offer one suggestion: The civil demand that will arrive in your mailbox will be for a few hundred dollars. Have your son wash neighbor's cars, walk dogs, pick up dog poop, etc to earn money to pay you back for dishing out the money to pay the demand.

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Have your son wash neighbor's cars, walk dogs, pick up dog poop, etc to earn money to pay you back for dishing out the money to pay the demand.

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Excellent suggestion!

I agree with the others.

First, thank you for taking this seriously, and punishing your son.

I also agree with making him do a LOT of chores or other work to pay off that Civil Demand. Let him see for himself how hard he has to work to pay off that $200-300.

One other suggestion: Addressing the "peer pressure" issue. I don't know if you feel you can do that yourself, or maybe a few sessions with a professional (he may feel more comfortable talking in private with a pro).

But...if he's shoplifting at 12 because of a friend....well, the pressure gets worse as he progresses from middle school through high school. Bully others to be cool. Tobacco. That joint being passed around at the bus stop (well, in my day that is what happened, in this cozy little community. Now it's heroin). Alcohol. Sex (if you're a virgin, you must be gay!).

I want to Thank you all for everything! I try to be the best parent that I can possibly be!! This has been very hard for me to deal with, we lost his dad last summer! I have always been so proud of all the decisions that he had made up till now! As far as him earning money to pay for this.. oh yes he is! He has sold some of his toys that he has out grown.. he has already started mowing lawns and doing anything to earn a buck.. it has been a week (tomorrow) and he is already past $100.00!! Not knowing how much this will end up being however?!? Also, he is grounded, so it is hard to figure out what to let him do to earn the money?
Also I take peer pressure very seriously.. we have had many talks since all this, and many more to come! Gettting advice from a Pro might be a good idea! I am trying to raise a leader, not a follower!
So once again... thank you for all the advice, and anything else you can suggested is appreciated!!
So you think that this will end up costing around $200.00 - $300.00? Will this come as a letter or will we have to go to court?

It will come as a letter.

Thanks again for doing your best! Some parents won't even ground their kids!

Agree with the other responders. However, I might lift the grounding if he's actually working, mowing lawns, for example. Kinda hard to say "you have to earn money to pay this back" and then not allow him to. :)

I'm in agreement so far, the only thing I wondered about is the grounding for the entire summer and everything else, maybe for a period of time, but sometimes, and I think it depends on the child, IF you push their nose in the ca-ca for too long, you'll end up pushing them away from you...yea I know, tough love and all that, reminds me of the kids down the street in the old nieghborhood, they'd get in trouble, and the father would beat 'em with a fan-belt, I asked one of 'em one time Why a fan-belt? he said his father told him that a fan-belt wouldn't break :eek:, as they got older, they got meaner, I have to think it had something to do with the harsh treatment as kids

Well the actual time is 2 months which is almost the entire summer.. he still gets to do some activities such as.. go swimming, trampoline,(the backyard) and his basketball in the drive way.. I am keeping him away from his friends, NO beatings!! He will be able to go places with his Aunts too, I know 2 months may seem a little harsh to some people, however, so is stealing... He also plays football on a little league team, and he still will be doing that too.. (not with the same kids he goes to school with)

The Civil Demand will come in the form of a letter and in Michigan the amount (since the merchandise was recovered in salable condition) will be not less than $50 nor more than $200.