Stolen money?

Question

Recently i had a 12 year old kid break into my house an steal a large amount of monry, 200 to 300 hundred dollars. We were saving the money in a old jar for a family trip. I called the cops and the kid finally admitted to stealing the jar, but it was never found. If I was to press charges would the kid have to pay, or not, because we didn't have an exact amount? FYI. the kid has mental problems and thats why were hesitent on pressing charges. The foster parents said that they would talk to their case worker but i don't know. any input would be helpful.

Answer 1

Regardless of the mental problems, he had sense enough to steal the money. Press charges but ask for community services for him to learn not to steal again. You're probably out the money though. Sorry.

Answer 2

Technically speaking and without factoring in emotion and your symathies to the foster family, the misdeeds of a minor child (as you described) can place the guardians (foster family) in a position of liability to the damage the child causes. You would either have to file a civil suit (small claims) against the guardian, or press charges and if the child is determined by the juvenile court (months later) to be guilty, the payment of restitution would be topic discussed and a remedy sought to pay back on the damages. But the most likely source of the restitution is the foster parents. So it really comes down to what you want to do, how far you desire to go, for recovery of your loss. Or you can choose to accept the loss and hope the child learned enough on his end to lead him along a better path in life. My only private thought is: even though the jar was never found, I wonder what the boy's story was as to what he did with the money. Not important for this Yahoo answer though.

Answer 3

I know that a few hundred dollars might be more to some than others but here is seems you might be SOL. Wait to see what happens with the caseworker, you might get some satisfaction.

If you have it resolved criminally the kid may be punished and usually the victim of a theft is paid back via restitution the defendant has to make. The prosecutor may not be interested in this case because of the facts here (the kid's age/mental disability and the small dollar figure).

This is really a judgment call on your part. Is it worth the aggravation to try and have him prosecuted? For now I would wait and see what the caseworker can do for you.

Best of Luck. Being a victim sucks, I know.

Answer 4

Wait until they speak to a case worker. I worked with a guy with special needs and he had that same behavior. His punishment was that he had to pay a certain amount to the one he stole money from every month from his "paycheck" he got. If the kid understands the value of money, then that will be a great punishment. But I don't know if you will get the money back in one lump sum without pressing charges, and even then, I don't know if you will.

Check with your homeowner's insurance. They usually cover things like this up to a certain amount. I would check with your agent.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I think you are out of luck. You can't get it from the foster parents unless they were neglegent, Social Services won't pay even though they are legally responsible for the child when he does something. He's probably too young to be held responsible and with mental health issues, that makes it even harder. I would try pressing social services, but go to the case worker's supervisor. The caseworker probably has no authority whatsoever to make decisions for anything.

Answer 6

It's hard to get it back. How can a 12-yr-old pay when they have no income and can't work? It seems impossible. I don't think the foster parents would have to pay. I don't think the state will pay.

Answer 7

is it really worth it? i would say yes if it were 2 - 3 THOUSAND dollars.