my daughter is 15 and the school is charging her with petty larceny?

Question

Does anyone have any idea what will happen to her. There was a purse stolen in school and it had store gift cards in it. My daughter had a gift card from the same store in her pocket. The resource officer says this is enough to charge her with. The child produced a receipt for her card but now the resource officer has misplaced the card. The purse was never recovered and my daughter swears she did not take it. When asked about where she got her card she said her biological mother gave her it and when I asked her she said that she did. I am so worried she has never been in trouble with the law but does get in trouble at school

the gift card has a value of .46 yes you read that right 46 cents

the child who's purse was stolen produced a receipt for a gift card from the same store but now the card that they were holding from the search that they did on my child is gone, the resource officer claims that he has lost it

Answer 1

Just because your daughter had a gift card from the same store as one of one of the cards from the purse does not mean a hill of beans. The reason is there were more cards in the purse and your daughter was only carrying one. Plus, the store sells hundreds of those gift cards.

Now, if the resource officer finds the card and it does match the girl's receipt, then your daughter will be in trouble. How much trouble will be dependent on the value of the card, or maybe only the amount left on the card.

Make sure you document the date of the incident just in case they try and pull a fast one and get the card replaced to cover their butts for losing the card, so that they have a matching receipt. As a matter of a fact, I would insist on having a photo copy of the girl's receipt for your records, if they will let you have one. Play it cool and don't tell them why you want it at first, and maybe they will just give you a copy out of sheer stupidity. But, if they don't give it to you, then you might have to push the matter.

If they can not find the proof within a reasonable amount of time, then they owe your daughter a new gift card and an apology despite her past troubles, because they can not base any of their actions or punishments based on past behavior or hearsay.

If your daughter's biological mother still has a reciept and you can get a copy of it, then that's just more ammunition to help back up your daughter's story.

Answer 2

i dont think having one of the "many" cards in the purse would be enough. talk to a lawyer about it? someone that you know who is really well known and favored in your area, just in case. if she has a receipt, then that should be enough to prove it. parents usually would not cover for their children if their child stole something (I know mine certainly wouldnt), so if her biological mother supports the claim that she did buy the card, nothing should happen.
you could probably say that since she does not have the actual purse, you have never SEEN the purse, nor has the biological mother or anyone else around, let alone gift cards....
a) how can the person claim all of the gift cards were in her purse? how can she remember all of them?
b) why does your child have the receipt for the ONE gift card she owns? if they searched her pockets, wouldnt she have others? and on what pretense did they have to actually search your child's pockets in the first place? unless they had ground proof or high suspicion she did something, then searching her was against the rules anyways.

Answer 3

She produced a receipt.... but the officer lost the card... what the..???? Put this happening in writing and give it to somebody else at the precinct before the same officer loses that, too. If you don't put this incident down in writing- then it never happened... I'm talking about the receipt for the card etc... That officer apparently just want this case to be done with, but for your daughter there's a lot at stake here. Do everything you can to straighten this out. If she really didn't do anything- she must be feeling so badly treated right now. Good luck.

Answer 4

First find out how much the stolen good was worth. Then you'll know if the offense is a Class C or higher.
If a report was taken chances are that she had been charged with an offense. That case let the court system work it's course. Prove beyond reasonable doubt. Any mistake the officer made during the investigation will work against him at the hearing.
Do not sweat over it, it is not a great deal.

Answer 5

The school cannot legally do anything. It sounds like the 'officer' was trying to intimidate her into admitting guilt! Its like a ten dollar bill was stolen and I have one so I must have taken it? The receipt might have a serial number for the card to prove if it was the same one, but if they have lost the evidence, then they cannot do anything since there is no proof. Make sure she continues to declare her innocence and if possible, see if the person who she got it from has a receipt, just in case.

It might also help to find a lawyer who takes pro bono cases like this.

Answer 6

Do they have witnesses? How much evidence do they have? besides the same card your daughter had in her pocket. On the receipt is a number that should match a number on the card. Compare the 2 and see what conspires after that. Please stand by your daughter no matter what happens. The trust that can be built between you and her is great.

Answer 7

She is a minor, so you be present when the detectives interview her. Bring her mother so her statement can be taken and added to the report. . If everything you say is true, this will never make it to court. And I would raise holy hell until the department replaced my child's gift card that was lost by an officer. (Make an appointment with the officer and ask what he knows that you may not know about your child's activities at school and why she is a suspect. Don't be upset, just professional, when talking to him.) Luck be with you.

Answer 8

no evidence no crime. i would threaten the school with a lawsuit , they'll drop the charges. and besides the school doesn't have the right to press charges against a minor. it would be against her guardian. on the other hand the victims parents have the right.