#sentobia mississippi | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ausetkmt · 5 months

Text

Mississippi law says indecent exposure is a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine or less than six months imprisonment for adults. Chandler said the Youth Court Act allows officers to file a referral against children 10 years old if they commit an act otherwise illegal if they were an adult.

Updated as of 12/14/2023 at 10:20 p.m. ET

A 10-year-old boy was just handed a sentence in youth court following an incident that shocked the nation: a Mississippi officer tried to put him in cuffs for peeing in a parking lot.

Third grader Quantavious Eason was apprehended on Aug. 10 after a Senatobia police officer spotted him relieving himself next to his mother’s car while she was inside an attorney’s office. Attorney Carlos Moore argues any child would’ve done the same thing, considering he couldn’t locate a bathroom.

After she gave Quantavious her “You know better, don’t do that ish again,” talk, Eason said the officer let them off with a warning. However, the situation she thought was handled escalated only moments later.

Authorities say Quantavious wasn’t handcuffed but was taken down to the police station while his mother, Latonya Eason, followed. However, even after explaining the circumstances, the cops weren’t willing to let him off easy.

Read more from NBC News:

Quantavious was charged in youth court with being a child in need of supervision, Moore said. The child is required to check in with a probation officer once a month for three months, Moore said. “We are not going to appeal. He will not have a criminal record, this is probation. And he is a fan of Kobe Bryant, so he doesn’t mind writing the two-page report,” Moore said. “But, still, the principle of it — he should not have to do anything. He should be enjoying his Christmas holiday like the other kids.”

Eason isn’t letting up off the police, though: She announced her intentions of filing a lawsuit, claiming the only reason her son was approached by police was because of his skin color.

“My son is going through enough getting arrested and then for him having to see a probation officer and then write an essay, I don’t think it’s right or it’s fair,” she said.

Read more from CNN:

Then four other Senatobia police officers, including a lieutenant arrived, according to Eason. She said her son was arrested, put in a police vehicle and taken to a police station. Eason said the arresting officer said he had to take action. He “was like, ‘Yeah, I got to arrest him. He can’t do that.’ He made my son get out of the car, told my baby to put his hands behind his back and they took him to the patrol car.” Senatobia is located in northern Mississippi, less than 30 miles south of the Tennessee state line.

Though Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler asserted Quantavious wasn’t handcuffed in the incident, Moore said in a press conference that he was held in a cell for nearly an hour awaiting Youth Court Referral paperwork before being released back to his mother.

Mississippi law says indecent exposure is a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine or less than six months imprisonment for adults. Chandler said the Youth Court Act allows officers to file a referral against children 10 years old if they commit an act otherwise illegal if they were an adult.

He admitted that it was an error in judgement for the boy to be taken down to the station in a patrol car when his mother was present.

Following an internal investigation, one officer involved in the arrest left the department, per CNN’s report. However, Eason wants an apology and accountability from the rest of the officers.

“Termination ain’t good enough. You don’t let him just resign after he placed my son in the backseat of a car. You put my child in a cage like he was a dog or something,” she said. “My child didn’t deserve that.”

Moore said in a press conference they will file a federal lawsuit alleging Fourth and Fourteenth amendment violations.

#What Happened to a 10-Year-Old Black Boy Arrested for Urinating in a Parking Lot?#mississippi #racism #adultification of Black children #Quantavious Eason #sentobia mississippi #police misconduct #discrimination

3 notes · View notes