Minor Caught Shoplifting in Virginia

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Alexandria , Virginia.

My son was caught shoplifting in target store. While i was at work his older brother over the age of 18 had came to pick him up. They made him sign two papers from target and was taking to alexandria police department. He has been given a court summons to be mailed. My son is very embarrassed and ashamed of himself , He regrets of the items he stole and should have payed for them properly.
He did give the merchandise back to target but was still processed. He said that 53$ of items wasn't worth it. He should of paid and is very very sorry. He has a clean record till now ab honor roll student , sometimes 2.7 or higher, and is on the wrestling team for his school. He wants to know what will happen? He is worried sick.
He knows that what he did was wrong and will take punishment for what he did. He is a 15 year old and wonders what type of punishments are optional to him.

Ps. His birthday is just around the corner. June 15. and he was trying to apply for a job now he thinks he might not getting a job because of background checks.

Fortunately for your 15-year-old son, his age is his savior. Since the amount was so low, the offense is petty theft, a misdemeanor. Because he was a juvenile when he committed it, even if he's convicted of the offense, it likely won't follow him into his future. Colleges and his future employers will never know about it. Under Va. Code § 16.1-305, the juvenile records for misdemeanors are not open to the public and are accessible only to a few limited entities: attorneys in the case; treatment providers; probation officers; DMV; etc.

However, law enforcement will still have his prints on records, but can only use them for investigation purposes. But short of an accidental mix-up at the police station, your son's offense (and possible conviction) shouldn't be disclosed to the public. Also under Virginia Code § 16.1-306, the court is required to destroy a person's juvenile misdemeanor records 5 years after the juvenile turns 19. After that, the conviction will be as if it never happened and your son will keep his "clean" record.

Good luck. Hopefully your son learned his lesson, however, you may want to scare him a little bit longer to make sure he really knows not to do it again. Make him understand the consequences. Stealing is a crime of moral turpitude. That means it can pose problems in a person's future if they want to enter certain careers, like become a lawyer. Also if the items he took were more expensive, he could've been charged with felony theft. Those are much harder to get rid of, even for juveniles.

I also got a question we don't live in Virginia but they had explained to me that he would be trailed in virginia. That confused me a quite bit. Talking about scaring him he didn't come out his room for 2days. Ill leave it at that. The only thing that bothers him is what will happen at court now. from the charges to his punishment and thank you for the information.

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I also got a question we don't live in Virginia but they had explained to me that he would be trailed in virginia. That confused me a quite bit. Talking about scaring him he didn't come out his room for 2days. Ill leave it at that. The only thing that bothers him is what will happen at court now. from the charges to his punishment and thank you for the information.