Bishop Charlesworth Browne, head of the Christian Ministries Centre has commended the government’s decision to consider the amendment of laws to hold parents accountable for the criminal behaviour of their children.
The government has been considering options to reduce criminal acts among young people, resurfacing an idea that they once rebuffed last year.
“This will certainly send some ripples through parents in this country, serving at least as a deterrent to what I call… parental delinquency… [and] I say the move by the government to look into … amending laws that parents be held accountable for the criminal behaviour of their children is timely,” Bishop Browne said.
The Cabinet decision made last week based on a recent United States court case where a mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was held criminally liable for the actions of her son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time when he shot four students to death and wounded several others at a high school in Michigan on November 30, 2021.
The case brought international attention to the idea that negligent parents could be held accountable for their children’s acts if they had the opportunity to prevent the crimes of their child and did nothing.
The case has sparked debate as to whether the case could set a dangerous precedent, blurring the line between bad parenting—which is not a crime in of itself—and a person becoming criminally liable for the independent acts of their child.
Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin told Observer that consultation with the public will take place before any legal amendment is tabled before Parliament.
“I am of the very firm opinion that where parents are aware, and they know that their children have weapons at home in their control and they know the potential of their children for violence, and they do nothing to remove the implements … then the parents would be held to a criminal responsibility from a negligence and charges will be brought against those offending parents.
“I’m pleased to report that many parents have called this office expressing their full support for such a law to be passed and my colleagues in the sub-region spoke with me to see if we can get a unified, harmonised law to deal with this kind of delinquent behaviour,” the Attorney General said.
