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Caroline parents charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors after underage drinkers busted at party Date published: 4/15/2008
BY ELLEN BILTZ
High school beer guzzlers weren't the only ones in trouble Friday night when the Caroline County Sheriff's Office busted a birthday party that included underage drinking. The birthday girl's parents, Linda Stanley, 43, and James Stanley, 42, of Ruther Glen, were charged with multiple counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing alcohol to someone under 21, said Caroline County Sheriff Tony Lippa. Their 18-year-old son was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer, Lippa said, after stepping in while his parents were being arrested. The Sheriff's Office received a call about 9:44 p.m. Friday alerting them to underage drinkers at a party in Ruther Glen, Lippa said. Police got to the birthday bash to find 11 people between the ages of 15 and 17 drinking, for which the Stanleys each face 11 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. They were also charged with six counts each of providing alcohol to someone under the age of 21 for allowing six other drinkers between the ages of 18 and 20, Lippa said. Lippa said the Stanleys' daughter, who was celebrating her birthday, was 21 years old and was not charged Friday night. The six party-goers between the ages of 18 and 20 were also given summons charging them with underage possession of alcohol, Lippa said. The Stanleys' son, Christopher Holman, 18, who lives at their home in the Caroline Pines area of Ruther Glen, was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer, Lippa said. "While the parents were being arrested, the son tried to intervene," he said. The Stanleys, who were each held at Pamunkey Regional Jail under a $5,000 bond, will be arraigned today in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on the contributing charges, Lippa said. In 2002, two Albemarle County parents were arrested for an incident similar to this party, Lippa said. Those parents are currently serving 27-month sentences for contributing to the delinquency of a minor convictions that stemmed from an underage drinking party for their son. After years of trials and appeals, which they eventually lost, the Albemarle couple reported for jail last summer. Ellen Biltz: 540/374-5424
Addressing a significant problem in society does not mean it is done to the exclusion of all other problems. Indeed the condition and needs of our returning serviceman is important, but we are capable of handling more than one problem at once. Your posts are reminiscent of a whining child. Just because mommy has taken a momemt to focus on something else, doesn't mean that she doesn't love you anymore. Taking the time to address underage drinking doesn't mean we do so at the expense of returning vets.
You are unable to look at the larger picture and that is fine. The world in which you live is not mine. So be it. Nothing more need be said.
Have you looked at this number compared with deaths from other things? Not large. Of course if you are directly affected you would look past the numbers
That is insane. There's no way that all 17 of those kids had their parent's permission to be drinking at this party. Furthermore, were all these kids staying the night or were Mr. and Mrs. Stanley going to drive every one of them home afterwards? Otherwise, they'd be unleashing a LOT of inexperienced drunk kids onto the roads. Also why would the 21 year old birthday girl have 15 year old kids at her party anyway? Just my observation, but at 21 I was not getting sloshed with 15 year olds.
There's a huge difference between teaching your own kids the effects of alcohol and serving several other people's teenagers booze at a party. When my kids are old enough they will be offered small amounts of wine at the dinner table. This is my personal parenting decision so that they will not go off on their own totally unable to grasp the effects of alcohol. But I would NEVER presume to serve anyone else's child at my home without them being present as well. Even then, I probably wouldn't offer it.
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