I am glad I found this site. I am in the same type of situation..
My 12 year old was shoplifting at RiteAid, along with 2 of his friends. The police were called, and my husband and I were both at work and could not answer our cels right then, so my son's friend's grandma picked them up. So, he was grounded for a month and had extra chores, and we thought that was that. We received the letter a couple of weeks ago, the Florida attorney (or collection agency, whatever) wants $314.99. The item they took is $12 and RiteAid got it back right away.
I don't know what to do because we are doing so poorly financialy, we are on the verge of qualifiying for food stamps, etc...
They did have my son sign a form, but he doesn't even know what it was. I do know for sure that my husband and I did not sign anything about it at all. We were totally shocked to get the letter. The letter was addressed to "Parents of (John Doe)"-- I was also surprised that the store can give this attorney/collection agency information about a minor - I thought all legal information about minors is confidential.
Also, I read an article that says this paticular agency actually prosecutes less than 1% of cases. The penal code they state in the collection letter says that the store can sue for damages, but what are the damages? And can I be sued if they don't know my name? We have not received any phone calls yet. BUT his friend's parents did not respond to the first letter and their demand has gone from $315 to $500 in a 2nd letter.
Help please -- I need advice!!!