For the first time in the United States, parents were convicted of their child’s crime. Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who carried out a shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, USA in 2021 and killed 4 classmates, were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for “involuntary manslaughter”. The Crumbleys will be eligible for parole after 10 years; if their parole request is denied, they will serve 15 years in prison.
After prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun being found in the home and parental indifference to the teenager’s mental health, the Court ruled that Jennifer and James Crumbley had failed to take precautions that could have prevented the attack.
“THESE CONVICTIONS ARE NOT RELATED TO BAD PARENTING”
Judge Cheryl Matthews said: “These convictions are not about bad parenting. These convictions confirm a failure to take actions that would have stopped an oncoming train. They are about repeatedly ignoring things that would make the hair on the back of a reasonable person’s neck stand up. Opportunity knocked on the door again and again, louder and louder.” “It got louder and was ignored. No one responded.”
THEY HAVE BEEN IN PRISON FOR 2.5 YEARS
Ethan Crumbley, now 17, was sentenced to life in prison for murder and other crimes. Jennifer and James Crumbley were arrested after the attack and have been in prison for about 2.5 years because they could not pay the bail of 500 thousand dollars. (UAV)
