Teen arrested for shoplifting, Mother doesn't know.

[locoparentis]

Oregon: We have known a teen age girl since she was quite young. She has been our friend and babysitter and we sometimes pay her for doing work around the house. Because her relationship with her mother and stepfather is very bad we sometimes find ourselves giving her parental advice and offering a place to get away.

Recently she told my wife that she was arrested for shoplifting a month or two ago (at a large store that sells clothing). She managed to be released to the custody of the mother of the girl she was with. She also gave an old address. She has not told her mother.

At the time of arrest she was told that she will have to pay a lot of money to the store plus perform community service. She was told that she would be receiving something in the mail about what she needs to do next but of course that didn't happen. She has called the court but was told she will have to come in person to get further information. Now her bad-influence boyfriend is telling her not to go anywhere near the court.

We have advised her to take care of this quickly before the situation gets even worse. We have even offered to accompany her to the court.

Teenagers don't think very clearly but my impression is that her plans include:
1. Keeping the arrest a secret from her mother until she turns 18, which will be in a few months.
2. Resolve the issue if possible by performing her obligations but not if it means informing her mother or going against the boyfriend.
3. Enlisting the help of her ex-con/ deadbeat-dad father to sign any documents (and provide legal advice).
4. Hoping that the problem will just go away if she if ignores it and turns 18.

We could of course tell the mother about all this, but we're trying to keep the lines of communication open. We have in the past told the mother that she really needs to have a talk with us about her daughter but she hasn't cared enough to follow up or even find out what we were concerned about.

Here are the legal questions I have regarding our teenage friend:

1. What is her best course of action to get on the right side of the law and get this behind her as soon as possible?

2. What will happen if she ignores the problem? Is there likely a warrant for her arrest?

3. What happens to her arrest record and the warrant when she turns 18?

4. Does she already have financial and community service obligations or are these assigned during a court appearance?

 

[seniorjudge]

1. What is her best course of action to get on the right side of the law and get this behind her as soon as possible?

A: You need to tell your parents.


2. What will happen if she ignores the problem? Is there likely a warrant for her arrest?

A: Yes; she will be arrested.


3. What happens to her arrest record and the warrant when she turns 18?

A: It will still be there.


4. Does she already have financial and community service obligations or are these assigned during a court appearance?

A: You will find out what happens to you when you go to court.

 

[Just Blue]

Oregon: We have known a teen age girl since she was quite young. She has been our friend and babysitter and we sometimes pay her for doing work around the house. Because her relationship with her mother and stepfather is very bad we sometimes find ourselves giving her parental advice and offering a place to get away.

Recently she told my wife that she was arrested for shoplifting a month or two ago (at a large store that sells clothing). She managed to be released to the custody of the mother of the girl she was with. She also gave an old address. She has not told her mother.

At the time of arrest she was told that she will have to pay a lot of money to the store plus perform community service. She was told that she would be receiving something in the mail about what she needs to do next but of course that didn't happen. She has called the court but was told she will have to come in person to get further information. Now her bad-influence boyfriend is telling her not to go anywhere near the court.

We have advised her to take care of this quickly before the situation gets even worse. We have even offered to accompany her to the court.

Teenagers don't think very clearly but my impression is that her plans include:
1. Keeping the arrest a secret from her mother until she turns 18, which will be in a few months.
2. Resolve the issue if possible by performing her obligations but not if it means informing her mother or going against the boyfriend.
3. Enlisting the help of her ex-con/ deadbeat-dad father to sign any documents (and provide legal advice).
4. Hoping that the problem will just go away if she if ignores it and turns 18.

We could of course tell the mother about all this, but we're trying to keep the lines of communication open. We have in the past told the mother that she really needs to have a talk with us about her daughter but she hasn't cared enough to follow up or even find out what we were concerned about.

Here are the legal questions I have regarding our teenage friend:

1. What is her best course of action to get on the right side of the law and get this behind her as soon as possible?

2. What will happen if she ignores the problem? Is there likely a warrant for her arrest?

3. What happens to her arrest record and the warrant when she turns 18?

4. Does she already have financial and community service obligations or are these assigned during a court appearance?

1. Tell her parents. BOTH of them. Step-father is irrelevant.

2. a) She will have an warrant issued for her arrest. b.) see (a).

3. She can request for it to be expunged after a period of time. This MOST LIKELY will be on her adult record.

4. That would be assigned by the court.

You are not doing yourself any favors by helping this girl avoid her parents. If I were mom and found out that you accompanied my minor daughter into court in an attempt to hide her arrest I would seek every recourse offered under the law. There are a few.

 

[locoparentis]

Thanks for the advice so far. Despite the pronouns used by seniorjudge I really am a much older concerned acquaintance and am not just impersonating one.

In offering to accompany the girl to court we just intended to ensure she went to the court building to clarify her situation. We didn't intend to replace her mother in open court.

Part of the reason I am asking for information here is so that we can use it scare her into doing the right thing.

Here are some other questions that might help:

What will happen if she doesn't tell her mother and tries to go to court without her?

How will this change after she turns 18 (coming up soon)?

The situation with informing her mother is tricky. The only reason we know about the shoplifting incident is that the daughter trusts us. We previously informed the mother that her daughter had been drinking although we didn't tell her about some other things involving boyfriends, etc.. We have offered multiple times to have a conversation with the mother about the daughter's direction. You would think that a normally concerned mother would get back to us ASAP but she never did.

Unfortunately my wife has also promised the girl that she will not tell the mother about the shoplifting.

The girl obviously is waiting for the moment she turns 18 when she thinks she will be able to live free from her mother and perhaps run off with the boyfriend. We have told her that this is all an illusion for a variety of reasons but you can't always reason with teenagers.

It's not so clear that the mother isn't hoping the daughter will move out at 18. We do not know how to contact her father.

Our friend was previously always a good girl. We feel we are losing influence on her and she is going over to the dark side, particularly under the influence of her current boyfriend. But we're trying not to break the only trusting relationship she has with someone who cares about her and is not trying to use her.

 

[Indiana Filer]

What state?

Since she committed the offense before her 18th birthday, even if she goes to Court after her 18th birthday, she will still be considered to be under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The only exception would be if they waived her to adult court, and that is extremely unlikely to happen.

If she does not appear as ordered, a warrant for her arrest (or pick-up order) will be issued by the Court. One could also be issued for the parent of the child since the parent was ordered to ensure her appearance. If the friend's mother got her released at the time of the arrest, it's likely there might be a warrant for that woman too.

If she goes to court, most likely she will get offered a Program of Informal Adjustment, or a sort of juvenile pre-trial diversion. There will be some community service and a few other conditions, but then the charge would not go on her criminal record as a juvenile offense.

The store might also request a civil demand against the girl. If this isn't paid, it could become a judgment because the store might sue her in civil court.

So, what state?

 

[locoparentis]

So, what state?

Oregon. (I mentioned that in the first post.)

Thanks.

 

[Indiana Filer]

Oregon. (I mentioned that in the first post.)

Thanks.

Yeah, you did. I didn't notice it since you had deleted the question.

Even if it would tick her off, I'd tell the parents. They need to know for their legal well-being, as well as her's.