Virginia Mom Facing Jail Time After Hoa Called Police on Her for Allowing 5yo Son to Walk Around the Neighborhood Alone
A mother in Virginia is facing jail time after allowing her five-year-old son to wander around the neighborhood unsupervised. Her situation has prompted a debate over what age is appropriate for children to be given the freedom to walk around on their own.
Karyann Parkinson was charged and convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, with a Williamsburg and James City County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court judge sentencing her to six months of suspended jail time. In an interview with The Washington Post, Parkinson claimed that her conviction stemmed from allowing her son to roam the neighborhood by himself.
At the time, the mother said she was weeks away from giving birth to her fifth child when she decided to go on a walk with her five-year-old son, Sam. Their gated community in Williamsburg, Virginia, contains ponds where Parkinson claims her son would often find and collect goose feathers. The mother also claims that they crossed the street about six times during their walk.
Upon returning home, Parkinson claimed Sam asked if he could go out and collect more feathers. The mother agreed, allowing her son to do the half-mile walk by himself. This would be a decision she would soon come to regret.
HOA security spotted Parkinson’s son
About 20-30 minutes after Sam ventured out on his own, Parkinson says she received a knock on the door. When she answered, she saw her son, and standing behind him was a security guard. According to the guard, a concerned neighbor had seen Sam out on his own and called security. It seems the neighbor was worried about what could happen to an unsupervised child.
Parkinson says she argued that her son was safe and that he was capable of walking through the neighborhood on his own. She later told the Washington Post that she and her husband Dallin believed it was important for children to “encounter reasonable risks, to do anything that they feel confident doing within safe parameters.” Parkinson added, “I know what he’s capable of.”
However, the security guard informed her that she had broken the law and called the police. Two weeks later, cops arrived at Parkinson’s door with a warrant for her arrest. She was handed six months of suspended jail time after refusing a withheld finding that would have forced her to admit the evidence was enough to prove guilt.
“That would have been saying that what I had done was a crime, and … that would’ve violated my principles and my convictions as a parent,” Parkinson said of her decision to refuse. The mother insists that her decision to allow five-year-old Sam to roam the gated community alone was not a crime and is appealing the conviction.
Parkinson isn’t the only parent to admit to leaving their child alone, although some go further than others.
(Featured image: 13WHAM ABC News, YouTube)
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