Naperville parents charged for encouraging daughters to fight classmate
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- Two parents in Naperville were arrested for encouraging their daughters to beat up a classmate.
Prosecutors say the morning of April 3, a girl in junior high was walking to her bus stop while being followed by two classmates and their stepfather.
When the girl walked past her bus stop to the next stop, the stepfather and mother of the other girls drove their daughters to the second bus stop, where the two daughters attacked the victim, throwing her to the ground, and punching her with their fists, according to Naperville police and DuPage County prosecutors.
Police and prosecutors said the girls' parents watched and encouraged their daughters to "get her" as they attacked their classmate.
"As parents, we have an obligation to teach our children how to appropriately navigate and resolve conflict" Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres said in a statement. "Fighting is not the answer, and it's dismaying to me that two adults would set such a poor example for children by encouraging and abetting this behavior. I'm grateful for the work of our officers and the assistance of DuPage County State's Attorney Bob Berlin and his office in holding these individuals accountable for their actions, and I hope this experience will serve as a lesson to the parents and children involved that this kind of behavior is not acceptable."
The victim was not seriously injured.
The parents of the girls who attacked her have been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and were released on bond. They are due back in court next month.