Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft Parents Civilly responsible for Juv Shoplifting?

[Silverlining3NC]

Several months ago, my 12 year old daughter was stopped in a store with store merchandise in her possession. She was not charged and I thought the matter was behind us. We just got a civil demand letter from a law firm in NY, asking for $300. At first I thought it was a scam, but after a websearch I realize that their is a statute for stores to collect this. My question is am I truly responsible for this. The letter paraphrases the statue considers the parent responsible IF she had a "know propensity" for the act, which of course I didn't know. From other post on this site, I assume that she signed a form giving her notice of the civil responsibility. She does not remember it and I did not get any copy. Bottom line...Am I responsible? What will happen if I do not respond to this letter? If I am responsible, can I offer to settle for less?

 

[Duranie]

Yes you are responsible and as a parent, you are legally responsjble for your children. We went through the same thing with my step-daughter who worked for a large retailer and gave inappropriate discounts. In exchange for criminal charges not being filed, she had to pay back all the inappropriate discounts which totalled 600.00.

at this point I would pay it and she is lucky criminal charges are not being pursued at this time, then you would have to deal with the juvenile court system. If you do not pay, you might get dinged for more legal bills and they can always decide to press charges.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Several months ago, my 12 year old daughter was stopped in a store with store merchandise in her possession. She was not charged and I thought the matter was behind us. We just got a civil demand letter from a law firm in NY, asking for $300. At first I thought it was a scam, but after a websearch I realize that their is a statute for stores to collect this. My question is am I truly responsible for this. The letter paraphrases the statue considers the parent responsible IF she had a "know propensity" for the act, which of course I didn't know. From other post on this site, I assume that she signed a form giving her notice of the civil responsibility. She does not remember it and I did not get any copy. Bottom line...Am I responsible? What will happen if I do not respond to this letter? If I am responsible, can I offer to settle for less?

Has your daughter ever done this before? Signing a form does not mean that she had a "propensity" to commit this act. If that term is unfamiliar to you it means that she's committed the act before and you know that she has a problem with this kind of behavior and is predisposed to doing it again and you don't try to prevent her from breaking the law in this manner. Her signing a form doesn't change whether or not you even knew about her behavior. If you don't respond to the letter it is possible that they may prosecute or they may ignore it.