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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    5

    Default Minors Arrested After Parents Permitted Underage Drinking

    About a year ago, my then 19 year old son spent the night on New Year's Eve with a friend at his parents' house in a small exclusive community. I received a call from the mother the next morning asking me to come to her home. She only said that the boys (all 10 of them ranging in age from 17 - 19 yrs) had been involved in something during the night. When I got to her house, she explained that the boys had gone out into the community on foot and opened unlocked car doors taking stuff out of the cars and bringing it to her house. We called the police ,they woke the boys, read them their Miranda rights, and questioned them. When we went downstairs into the basement area where the son lived, there were bottles and bottles of alcohol and beer. The parents had allowed the boys to drink: all under age. The consequences of this have been steep and horrible for all involved. My son now has a criminal record of several theft charges; we paid a lot of money for an attorney as well as going through the stress and sorrow of having mug shots reported on our local television, my son lost a college athletic scholarship; we paid an unbelievable amount of restitution for broken or missing merchandise and cash that was reported missing, my anxiety, stress, and shame have been overwhelming to me, etc. I'm wondering why the parents were not charged by the police with allowing these boys to drink in their home. I did not know this was part of the over night deal and had talked to the mother of the friend prior to giving my son the go ahead to stay over with the family. Also, the local police dept was lauded for their work in "solving" this case -- which was a self-reported crime with the stuff returned the to the police on New Year's Day . I am horribly bitter with both the parents who hosted this wonderful party and the police dept who led us to believe that the boys would be treated differently since they were cooperative and reported the crime themselves. Is there anything I (and other parents) can do to create a more revealing picture of what went on during this night of madness?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Minors Arrested After Parents Permitted Underage Drinking

    Quote Quoting ezsbookpal
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    We called the police ,they woke the boys, read them their Miranda rights, and questioned them.
    I hear from time to time about parents who do this to their kids "to teach them a lesson", then get surprised when their kids are criminally prosecuted. That's what you should expect when you involve the police. If you want to help your kid turn himself in for a crime, hire a criminal defense lawyer and work through the lawyer.
    Quote Quoting ezsbookpal
    I'm wondering why the parents were not charged by the police with allowing these boys to drink in their home.
    You haven't stated anything which would suggest that the parents knew that the boys were drinking, or that the parents supplied the alcohol.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    20,594

    Default Re: Minors Arrested After Parents Permitted Underage Drinking

    It sounds as if they may have been cut a break ... it's very possible they could have been charged with more serious offenses including burglary and conspiracy, and they could have even done time in jail or state prison! (Or your state's juvenile equivalent if under 18.)

    One should never assume that you will get off scot free just because you cooperate AFTER you get caught! I doubt the kids volunteered their activity to the parents, my guess is the parents at the party uncovered the act or it was related to them so they tried to do the right thing. If the kids HAD been let off with a warning, what would that have taught them? Perhaps that if they do the WRONG thing, all they have to do is be cooperative IF they are caught and they will be given a pat on the back?

    It's a tough lesson to be sure, but hopefully it will serve the kids involved far better as they go through their lives than had they gone undetected and continued a life of crime.

    - Carl

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: Minors Arrested After Parents Permitted Underage Drinking

    The problem I have seen is that, even within the same county, you can have one set of kids who get the "throw the book at the, give them felony records" treatment and another who get the "kid gloves, alternative disposition" treatment, based principally on their parents' political connections.

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