This really eats my lunch!

[HighEndRoyalPythons]

They definitely need to file a police report and press charges. And that 10 year old needs a serious dose of good old fashioned corporal punishment! From the sound of it, his parents could use a dose too!

[wilomn]

The bank is insured for this very thing. Don't for a moment they're not. It won't cost them a thing, it's a cost of doing business. They MAKE money if they can get you to let them charge you for what was stolen.

Cops. Like Wolfy said, get them involved. You need a paperwork trail.

He's old enough, maybe not smart enough but I bet any kid that can find the passwords to a strangers bank account isn't really stupid, to know right from wrong. Coddle him now and he's the drunk kid plowing into a grandstand at graduation just a few years down the road.

Start a facebook page: Parents of local child who steals from the elderly. Put up pictures of his parents that are out there on the web already. Embarrass them and maybe something will get done.

Good luck.

[AK907]

The bank is insured for this very thing. Don't for a moment they're not. It won't cost them a thing, it's a cost of doing business. They MAKE money if they can get you to let them charge you for what was stolen.

Cops. Like Wolfy said, get them involved. You need a paperwork trail.

He's old enough, maybe not smart enough but I bet any kid that can find the passwords to a strangers bank account isn't really stupid, to know right from wrong. Coddle him now and he's the drunk kid plowing into a grandstand at graduation just a few years down the road.

Start a facebook page: Parents of local child who steals from the elderly. Put up pictures of his parents that are out there on the web already. Embarrass them and maybe something will get done.

Good luck.

My thoughts exactly. Maybe this will page will help my in laws grow a pair and do something about it. They are the kind of folks that let everyone walk all over them. Drives me nuts.

He is old enough to know it was wrong. Maybe not old enough understand the full ramifications of his actions, but he still knows it was wrong. And his punishment should reflect such. Kids learn really quick given the proper motivation, so I don't see any point in locking him up in juvi or anything, but a little hard labor/community service might be in order.

I love the facebook page idea. We live in a nice small town of about 3,000 people, so everyone knows everyone. Shame them into submission.

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

That said, I understand the banks side too. It wasn't their fault either and they shouldn't really have to lose out. In a perfect world they would just bill the offender. But this isn't a perfect world and if a bank wants my money, they better be prepared to work for it. I'm sure they have a clause somewhere that says their customers are protected from such things, you just have to call their bluff.

AKedit: I'm going to talk to their bank tomorrow since it is closed for the day. I'm set to call their bluff. Like yall said, they should be protected against fraud/theft. I'd be amazed if they weren't. A lot of places try to play you for the fool, though.

Just like in the reptile world, banks and insurance companies are faced with scams everyday. Why should they accept the fraud claim if the victim isn't willing to press charges or at the very least, make a police report? You have to file a police report for insurance claims involving theft or criminal damage in order to be reimbursed. I imagine a simple police report will very quickly cut through all the red tape at the bank. Then watch the bank go after the thief once the legal tools for them to do so are in place.

Depending upon the state, it looks like it would be a well deserved Grand Larceny charge. Even if no serious punishment is dealt out this time, having this on his criminal record will greatly increase the chance of him being justly punished for his next inevitable crime. Not to mention it will also greatly increase the chance of your in-laws being reimbursed by his parents.

[4Ballz]

Sometimes I seriously (and this may make me a bad parent) want to just punch my girlfriends son in the face as hard as I can. Now with that out of my system ill tell you why.

His dad is a piece of work, he has threatened to kill me in front of his son, he was abusive to my girlfriend when they were together. Refuses to work so he doesn't have to pay child support and currently owes over 6k. You get this picture.

Anyway this kid does not behave at all. When you tell him to do something he will look right at you and say "no, I don't want to." He is 6!!! Couple of months ago he got a hold of a lighter and lit our house on fire causing over 20k in damages and causing most of my snakes RI due to smoke. He actually made this statement to me two days ago: "Shaun, if your not nice to me my dad is going to come here and beat you up." AT 6 YEARS OLD!!!

My girlfriend refuses to take him away from the dad because she lost her dad when she was young to drugs and "knows what it feels like to not have a dad."

Anyway its been and will continue to be a long road. I foresee a future of calls from principals, other parents, and police. I am doing my best but every weekend when he goes to his dads he comes back as Satan's child.

in a situation like that, I'd say goodbye to the girlfriend....no regrets, just walk away....sorry about the house, and the RI bps.

[AK907]

Just like in the reptile world, banks and insurance companies are faced with scams everyday. Why should they accept the fraud claim if the victim isn't willing to press charges or at the very least, make a police report? You have to file a police report for insurance claims involving theft or criminal damage in order to be reimbursed. I imagine a simple police report will very quickly cut through all the red tape at the bank. Then watch the bank go after the thief once the legal tools for them to do so are in place.

Depending upon the state, it looks like it would be a well deserved Grand Larceny charge. Even if no serious punishment is dealt out this time, having this on his criminal record will greatly increase the chance of him being justly punished for his next inevitable crime. Not to mention it will also greatly increase the chance of your in-laws being reimbursed by his parents.

Great points!

I think my mission with this has failed, honestly. I showed this thread to my in-laws hoping they would heed everyone's advice, but they are pushovers and still believe that he is "just a kid" and didn't know any better and don't want to "ruin his life". Guess that explains why their own kid only respects my wife and I.

I appreciate yall backing up my case here, but I can't force them to do whats right. Yall rock!

in a situation like that, I'd say goodbye to the girlfriend....no regrets, just walk away....sorry about the house, and the RI bps.

You got that right!

No offense meant to the poster.

[Mike41793]

Im only 19 so 10 years old is easy enough for me to remember. If i had done that at that age my stepfather woulda hit me so hard that i would have died before i stopped sliding! LOL! Seriously though thats terrible that they dont wanna do an anything about it. That will only teach the kid that what he did was ok and he can get away with it again. I wouldnt let him come over anymore. Who knows what else he'll steal? Maybe next time he'll go in and get one of your snakes and kill it. Or maybe he'll steal their keys and crash their car into something. I'll end this mini rant with a few simple words: Just wait until he's 18. Then if he touches anything you own you can legally beat his ass like he deserves!

[Mike41793]

in a situation like that, I'd say goodbye to the girlfriend....no regrets, just walk away....sorry about the house, and the RI bps.

No offense to him either, but those were my exact thoughts too. She must be one SPECIAL girl...lol

[wilomn]

Ask you in laws how they feel about helping to make a new jeffery dahmer.

[WingedWolfPsion]

No offense to him either, but those were my exact thoughts too. She must be one SPECIAL girl...lol

If you want to stay with this girl, you need to A) offer to be a dad to this child, and B) Insist that birth dad is COMPLETELY out of the picture, because this situation is only going to get worse and worse.

She does need to understand that her ex is no dad to this boy--he's so much worse than nothing that there isn't a number high enough to describe it. It's far from unlikely that the fire was set by the ex's direction.

At age 6, this kid is far from irredeemable, but you have to get him away from the evil influence. Ask mom, point blank, if she really wants her son to grow up to be just like his 'dad'.