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17 yd old Larceny

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camerxon

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NC

My 17 year old son was caught stealing 3 t-shirts from the local Hollister Co. He was charged with Larceny and will need to report to court a month from now. The totals from the clothes amounted to $60. He is a straight A student, never been in trouble in his life, an honestly good kid who made a very stupid mistake but I cannot tell you how mad and disappointed I am with him. What steps do i need to take to try and get this removed from his record? We've never been in this situation before and have no idea what to do? Thanks
 


Find out from the Judge on the appearance day if your son can pay the fine for, what I'm reading is nothing more than misdemeanor theft, which might be in the form of a citation.

If this is not an option, and the Prosecutor wants some kind of probation, make sure your son doesn't plead to anything except No Contest. DO NOT plead guilty. A person cannot receive probation without entering some kind of plea that results in guilt.

A plea of No Contest in a criminal setting has the same meaning as that of Guilty, except that the plea may not be used against the defendant in an associated civil process, derived from the original criminal process. (This is from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and most states mirror these in establishing their own rules.) This does not mean that these options are available in your state.

After a predetermined amount of time, whether it be that you just paid the fine, or upon the successful completion of probation, you can petition the Court to expunge the record. Meaning, the Judge can order that the record be removed from a Criminal History database, so that others will not ever see it. It will remain there until such a request is made to the Court for expungement.

Check with an attorney in your state. They are the one's that can readily answer these questions. You might also check with a prosecutor at the D.A.'s office.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NC

My 17 year old son was caught stealing 3 t-shirts from the local Hollister Co. He was charged with Larceny and will need to report to court a month from now. The totals from the clothes amounted to $60. He is a straight A student, never been in trouble in his life, an honestly good kid who made a very stupid mistake but I cannot tell you how mad and disappointed I am with him. What steps do i need to take to try and get this removed from his record? We've never been in this situation before and have no idea what to do? Thanks
Why are YOU trying to get this removed from his record? Unless he is found not guilty it will be on his record. HE STOLE. He is a THIEF. Legally he will have a record if he pleads or is found guilty. You bailing him out is not going to make him take responsibility for his situation. HE needs to pay the penalty for his stupidity AKA criminal activity. And most thieves have stolen SEVERAL times before getting caught. So don't be too sure this is the FIRST time he has ever done this. More likely this is just the first time he has ever been caught.
 

JETX

Senior Member
First, ignore the crap by 'old and tired'. It is NOT correct!!

Second, a quick summary:
1) You need to accept that your son is a THIEF... and that it is VERY unlikely this is first time. He needs to learn to 'man up' and learn from this.
2) Your 'best action' as a parent is to help him to recognize that his conduct has consequences, not to help him avoid them.
3) Make sure he has an attorney, either hired by him (you) or appointewild by the court.
4) His BEST bet is to get 'deferrred adjudication'. This simply means that he pleads guilty (after all, he IS), the court will give him a fine he has to pay and a probated sentence. If he stays out of trouble for the period ordered, his conviction will be removed from his record.

Oh, and expect a very nice letter from a 'civil recovery' company in a few weeks demanding that he pay a civil penalty to the merchant. This will probably be for $200 or so. He MUST pay it, or he (you?) will be sued in civil court.
 
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The way I read this, this parent acknowledges that his/her son is guilty of the theft.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NC

but I cannot tell you how mad and disappointed I am with him.
This parent is angry and unlike other parents that try to blame others for their childrens wrongdoing's, this parent appears to to be wanting to help the child acknowledge what he has done, instead of sweeping it under the carpet. While the parent also acknowledges that their child is generally a good kid, like most parents, they are wanting to protect their child's future. I'm pretty sure I'm correct on this part. I could still be wrong.

Then there's this:

Why are YOU trying to get this removed from his record?
I don't recall that being part of the question from the parent, as if to say, "Go ahead, ask me why I want to have this removed from my child's record. Come on, ask me"

And then:

HE STOLE. He is a THIEF.
Yep, I'm pretty sure I read that the parent acknowledged that too. But again, did not ask in the original question as to anyone else's perception of what they thought this child was.

And then:

You bailing him out is not going to make him take responsibility for his situation. HE needs to pay the penalty for his stupidity AKA criminal activity. And most thieves have stolen SEVERAL times before getting caught. So don't be too sure this is the FIRST time he has ever done this. More likely this is just the first time he has ever been caught.
I don't recall this parent asking for advice should the parent try to protect the child, or what would be, if any, the ramifications of protecting the child.

Then we have this:
First, ignore the crap by 'old and tired'. It is NOT correct!!
Quite to the contrary, just because you want to interject your personal feelings in here, doesn't make my information incorrect, i.e;
1) You need to accept that your son is a THIEF... and that it is VERY unlikely this is first time. He needs to learn to 'man up' and learn from this.
2) Your 'best action' as a parent is to help him to recognize that his conduct has consequences, not to help him avoid them.
Again, the parent did ask for any of this in the original question, and has acknowledged that the child has committed an unlawful act.

Then, whilst I failed to include this, this information is correct:
3) Make sure he has an attorney, either hired by him (you) or appointed by the court.
4) His BEST bet is to get 'deferred adjudication'. This simply means that he pleads guilty (after all, he IS), the court will give him a fine he has to pay and a probated sentence. If he stays out of trouble for the period ordered, his conviction will be removed from his record.
However,

Before a person can get "deferred adjudication, there must be the acceptance/acknowledgment of guilt, meaning, that the child must either plead Guilty, or No Contest. As I stated in my answer to the original question:

make sure your son doesn't plead to anything except No Contest. DO NOT plead guilty. A person cannot receive probation without entering some kind of plea that results in guilt.

A plea of No Contest in a criminal setting has the same meaning as that of Guilty, except that the plea may not be used against the defendant in an associated civil process, derived from the original criminal process. (This is from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and most states mirror these in establishing their own rules.) This does not mean that these options are available in your state.
I went on to say:

After a predetermined amount of time, whether it be that you just paid the fine, or upon the successful completion of probation, you can petition the Court to expunge the record. Meaning, the Judge can order that the record be removed from a Criminal History database, so that others will not ever see it. It will remain there until such a request is made to the Court for expungement.
The probated sentence that JETX refers to is nothing more than a form of probation, meaning that if your son keeps his nose clean for the predetermined amount of time set by the Court, then it would be removed from his record. The child would not have to report to a Probation Officer, but would still be monitored by the Court.

The process that I speak of would have to be carried out in the event that the Prosecutor asks of the Court that the child be placed on formal probation, meaning he would maintain the criminal record even after the successful completion of that probation, so a formal request to have the record expunged would have to be presented to the court before the record would be removed, and only then upon approval of the Court.

Now, I see that there were 3 post's with information offered. 1 of them did not contain anything other than information in response to the question posted. The parent came here seeking legal advice. This parent did not come seeking the other posters' slamming of the child, or their own personal offerings of their opinions of the child.

Give the people what they came here looking for. Answers. If they want your opinion as to what you think, I'm sure they will include that in the original post.

You will also see in my response to the question, I stated:
Check with an attorney in your state. They are the one's that can readily answer these questions. You might also check with a prosecutor at the D.A.'s office.
Somehow or another, that all seems to make perfectly good sense to me, without ever ridiculing the parent over the actions of their child.

You people sure seem to want to throw a lot of stones out there. NO ONE ASKED FOR YOUR PERSONAL OPINION! Get over yourselves.
 

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