A Virginia mother has been convicted after she let her 5-year-old son walk alone around their gated community.
When Karyann Parkinson, 36, and her 5-year-old son Sam went for a walk in their gated community in Williamsburg, Virginia they probably would never have guessed the storm that was looming in the near future.
On June 5, the two passed ponds and crossed the street several times, with Sam riding his bike ahead of her and back again along the way.
Once they got home, Sam wanted to head back out to explore more.
Parkinson, who was eight months pregnant at the time, allowed him to go alone, because she deemed it a reasonable, age-appropriate risk. She and her husband want their children to build confidence exploring their surroundings within safe limits.
What happened during the walk
About 20 to 30 minutes later, Sam was brought home – visibly shaken – by a security guard. A neighbor had spotted the boy outside alone and called for help.
Parkinson maintained that Sam had the right to walk around the neighborhood by himself and that he was safe the whole time. The security guard disagreed and told her she’d broken the law.
Next he called the police, and two weeks later, officers returned to the family’s home with an arrest warrant.
The conviction and its aftermath
Parkinson was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and received a sentence of six months of suspended jail time.
She was offered a withheld finding, an option that would have avoided a formal conviction. She turned it down.
“That would have been saying that what I had done was a crime, and that would’ve violated my principles and my convictions as a parent,” she explained.
“And I think it also would have let down other parents who need to know that normal childhood experiences are not a crime.”
She and Sam were also placed on Virginia’s Abuse and Neglect Registry for seven years following a substantiated finding against her. She’s currently appealing the conviction.
People have strong opinions about the case
The case has understandably caused widespread debate, like matters concerning parenting often do.
Some people argue that letting a 5-year-old walk to a pond alone is genuinely risky, and others say the response from authorities went far beyond what the situation called for.
Parkinson herself has described the experience as devastating and she’s feared he children will be taken away from her.
“I always loved letting my kids climb trees and go exploring and to, you know, experiment with their surroundings and feel confident in this world,” she said. She also explained how she wants her kids to grow up believing the world is a good place, and that they’re capable of doing things independently.
“But this just made my whole world sort of come crashing down.”
Her lawyer, Andrew S. Gordon, framed the case as a genuine disagreement rather than a clear-cut wrongdoing.
“We just disagree on whether this is criminal,” he said. “And once the criminal justice machine turns on, it can be very hard to turn that machine off.”
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