December 17, 2014 Are Parents to Blame? A parents question when their child placed an item in their pocket as they walked out of the store. The parent got charged for shoplifting. Every parent would like to know if they are indeed responsible for their child’s action. You may be interested in some situations in which the parents were indeed charged with a crime that their child committed. Stealing from any store is a crime. If the parent did not steal an item should they be charged for what their child pocketed on the way out the door? There are situations in which a parent is indeed charged for a crime that their minor child committed. Parents Charged 7 Hundred dollar Fine Des Moines, Iowa thought they had a solution to the rise in their juvenile crime rate. They decided to hold parents liable when their children got a ticket or arrested when they broke the law. A parent would receive a warning letter on the first offense. The second offense, the parents were sent to parenting classes. The third offense a parent would be fined over 7 hundred dollars for their child’s crime. Single Mother Cited A son of a single mother was cited under the law because her minor son had been accused of violating the curfew law. Her son also had marijuana in his possession. The single mother did not break the law yet she was cited. Parent Claim Violation of Rights There is a law in place in which a parent must show that they were not negligent in supervising their own children when a crime was committed. There are laws in place that do indeed hold parents liable for the criminal acts of their minor children. Many parents will make the claim that their rights as a parent have been violated. Parents Can Face Legal Problems There have been many cases in which a parent can face many legal problems when their child has broken the law. One example is the cause of an accident. If a minor child is driving the family car and kills or seriously injures another the parent may face legal issues. Parents Should be Aware There is much more to parenting a minor child than most parents ever imagined. It should be an eye opener in this day and age. There are laws that state that a parent is responsible for supervising their minor children. Call us at 206-621-0500 or contact us for a free consultation with an experienced criminal law attorney today if you are being blamed for your child’s criminal behavior.