Re: Should a Ten Year Old be Charged for Setting One of the California Fires?

This is a difficult thing to decide. I sure would not want to be the person in charge of deciding this child's fate.

""If you accidentally set a massive fire that destroys homes, cause residents to flee for their lives and requires millions of dollars in resources to extinguish, then you damn well need to pay the piper," wrote Dave Bossert on his online newspaper, The West Ranch Beacon."

I understand the anger and bitterness on this man's response, yet what if it were his own child, would the response remain the same?

Also, if this child did this accidentally, what exactly does that mean? Was he just playing with matches and things got out of control? OR was his intention (hard to say from a 10 year old mind) to cause a FIRE and watch it go out of control?

My son and his friend when they were 13 or 14 were playing with matches and some substance. They had it contained...so they thought...in a coffee can and yet when they lit the match, the flame became larger than they anticipated. Thankfully, for them they were messing around over a creek so the fire did not become uncontrollable. Although, a neighbor saw the fire and called the fire department. For my son's luck, I was at work and did not hear about this from the nice officer (smirk) that brought him home. I did hear about it after the fact though. BTW, he and his friend were just being boys, exploring (right, wrong or indifferent). My son got in trouble yet I know when you are 13 or 14, you do know the consequence of fire. Does a 10 year old, really?

"Peter Arenella, a professor at the UCLA Law School said any prosecution of a 10-year-old that aims to punish the boy, rather than help him, "is an absurdity. The only justification for that would be if, in some extreme case, there was a need to protect society from him." Barring that, he said, prosecutors should be reluctant to sweep the boy up into the legal system."

I agree with this. If anything put the boy in something to help him. Amongst, other things, I am sure from all the media and publicity, this boy will be traumitized from his behavior and the consequences that the fire created. I personally believe that to prosecute him at 10 years old is insane. Yes, we are expected to learn that there are consequences in ALL things and this fire was HUGE yet was the child being malicious or being a child? Even being a child, he does need some repercussion yet prosecution and taken from his family and expected to pay restitution is a Harsh repercussion...for a 10 year old.

That is my 2 cents.

Peace,
Beth Tweet