A breach of trust (in our home)...(Update)

[csziggy]

39. Go to court - crooks that get away with stuff just keep stealing

Forty years ago we had a couple of break ins at our house. So one day when my husband left, I stayed in the house with everything off. When the kids who had been breaking in came in, I confronted them - they took off at a run and were seen and recognized by some of our neighbors. The cops came, took a report, assessed the damage (they had broken the window in a door for the third time), and left.

A few months later we were contacted by the DA's office. They wanted us to sign off on a plea deal. Since the burglars were underage they wanted to put them in a program, part of which was restitution for the broken window. We agreed. BIG mistake.

A couple of years later the historic school in the small unincorporated community burned down. It was proven to be arson and eventually the culprits were found - two of the three involved were the kids who had broken into our house. They ended up in state prison since they were by then adults.

I feel that if they had more consequences for their original offenses they might not have escalated to the bigger crime. We agreed to the slap on the wrist for their break-ins. Maybe we should have insisted that they spend time in a juvie facility or doing community service.

It's been forty years since the original crimes and it still bothers me. The historic school will never been the same - they managed to salvage the stone shell of the building but they lost a lot of the community history with the school records and photos that were housed there. Every time I drive by the building I wonder if we could have made a difference with different choices.