Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Child custody/responsibility issue involving 16 year old being charged

My wife and I are nearing the end of a difficult divorce. We have joint legal custody of our 3 children and my wife has primary physical custody of them.

My daughter, 16, told my wife that she was going to a friend's house to spend the night. In truth my daughter went to a party at a boy's house and spent the night there. Damage was done to the house while my daughter was there. The homeowner wants $100. in damages from each child in attendance and if she does not get it she will charge that child with breaking and entering, destruction of property and trespassing. My feeling is that my daughter should have to work (odd jobs for neighbors, baby sitting, etc.) to earn the $100. and pay the homeowner. My wife refuses to agree to this and refuses to pay anything toward the damages herself.

My question is--if this goes to court will I be responsible for half of the damages and/or half of the court costs even though my daughter does not reside with me and I had no idea of her whereabouts on the night in question? I did ask this of my divorce lawyer but he said he is not familiar with criminal law. Any help is greatly appreciated.


Asked on 2/16/05, 12:36 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Child custody/responsibility issue involving 16 year old being charged

Firstly, if your daughter was invited into the house by the son of the homeowner(or other relative or inhabitant of the house), she(your daughter) could not be charged with breaking/entering nor trespassing. And, furthermore, your daughter would not be liable for the charge of destroying property unless there was credible evidence which tended to prove that she in particular was involved in the commission of this particular crime perpetrated against specifically-described property.(Merely because she was in the house when the property was damaged would not be sufficient.)

If the homeowner were to bring suit in civil court against you and your wife for damages allegedly committed by your daughter against property belonging to the homeowner, the latter would have to show by a preponderance of the evidence that your daughter willfully committed this civil tort. It's probably unlikely, given the circumstances which you've described, that the homeowner would be able to succeed in demonstrating this by the evidentiary standard that would be required to prove her/his case.

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Answered on 2/16/05, 12:58 pm


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