Question 23. How Did I Get The Bill?

Dear 21st Century Dad, the police arrested my seventeen-year old son for shoplifting. The arresting officer took note that my son didn’t have any previous encounters with the law so he referred his case to Community Justice for a resolution agreement between the retailer and my son. My son completed some community hours at a local charity. He wrote the retailer an apology letter. He repaid the money he stole. I believed my son when he said he would never do it again. He understood that a criminal record would have prevented him from traveling to the States for the next five years. Thank goodness he was able to complete the resolution. My problem is that the retailer sent me a bill for $350 for the costs of replacing the stolen item (a stick of deodorant!), store security and other administration fees. If my family has to pay it, who should do it, my son or myself?

Dear Twice Billed,

The parental liability laws are controversial. Their introduction has meant to place responsibility and consequences of children’s misbehaviour upon the parenting family. Essentially the law tells parents to raise their family correctly! Be good parents or suffer the consequences. Critics say parental liability laws bias low income families. Poverty, education, health and crime issues make successful parenting impossible.

Victim advocates ask why shouldn’t the victim have a method of redress for his losses. The judicial system addresses the crime against society, not the wrongs of the victim.

If the administration bill sent by the retailer is not repaid, the store will attempt to recoup its losses in a civil suit. Our local Restorative Justice Centre does not include the $350 cost as an item to be resolved in their resolution conference; it considers the bill to be a civil issue, not a criminal one.

The $350 remains a cost to be negotiated between you and the retail company. The parental liability laws state a negligent parent can be responsible for costs up to $10,000 incurred by their children between the ages of 10 and 18. Negligence can be difficult to prove. Did you tell your child to go and shoplift? Probably not! And consider that a completed resolution at a restorative justice centre that registers the resolution with the local police is considered to be the equivalent of a not guilty charge.

Let’s allow our son to learn both the criminal and civil consequences of his actions. He has settled the criminal aspect of his theft admirably in a restorative justice setting. Now let him resolve the civil consequences.

You have to protect the credit record. If you pay it, negotiate with him various methods of repayment: chores, getting a joy; reduction in allowance.

Google:
1. Community Justice Centre
2. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: A NATIONAL CONSULTATION - A Consultation Paper
3. Canadian Money Advisor: News Archives: Retail Theft Could
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