Associate Teaching Professor Thomas Leith, director of the College of Law’s Criminal Defense Clinic, provided background to WUTR on the circumstances when a parent can be arrested for crimes committed by their children. This stems from a recent incident in Rome, NY.
Leith says that parents can be charged if they fail to act responsibly according to their state's laws. “One of them is where a parent or legal guardian fails to exercise reasonable diligence in controlling the child such to prevent them from becoming a juvenile delinquent,” he said.
In cases like the one in Rome, police would have to consider factors other than the parent’s mere presence when considering charging the parent. “Did she encourage it in some way? Did she have prior knowledge that this was going to occur, or did she try to prevent it in some way?” are some of the factors Leith said.