A Texas father who was accused of theft after he confiscated his 12-year-old daughter’s cellphone over an inappropriate text has been acquitted of the misdemeanor charge.
A judge in Dallas found Ronald Jackson not guilty Tuesday, citing insufficient evidence.
Grand Prairie police arrested Jackson a few hours after he commandeered his daughter’s cellphone and refused to return it. The 36-year-old father says a text he found on the phone was rude.
The girl’s mother says she owns the cellphone and reported the confiscation as theft.
Jackson posted $1,500 bail to get out of jail, but later received a mailed citation for theft. He refused to pay.
The father went to court and successfully fought the citation involving his now-15-year-old daughter.
Jackson also kept the cellphone.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
this and the murder of a Bundy supporter last night show the cops are out of control.. What kind of IDIOT mascarading as a police officer would make an arrest like that?? A father has an ABSOLUTEright to take away any protperty of his child. especiallly when he beleives it has been misused. Aty the very least, the mothes complaint should have been referred to the distict attourney and the DA should have contacted the father to get his side of the story and that should have been the end of it!! and what kind of sop called justice system keeps this going for 3 years??
I believe when one writes a complaint (a legal paper at the police station) the police are to act on it. The mother is not a mother; how does she state the phone belonged to her unaged daughter and the father stole it. The father most likely bought the phone and pays the monthly bills. I would no longer pay a phone bill. Get rid of the mother. you children are not being raised properly. I thought an adult parent was responsible for everything their live-in child under the age of 18 did. So the mother should have been cited for dilect of duty as a mother. I know each generation gets worse with evil; dissrespect, theif, lies; anything which they can get by. I commend the father taking the phone
I agree 100%. What has our society come to?
I had a friend who was a cop. His 15 year old son was a little jerk. The father was collecting the mail one day and the son grabbed a letter from the County Prosecutors Office out of his father’s hand. The father demanded the letter back and jerked it out of the son’s hand. The letter was a citation for driving without a license issued to the son for joyriding in a neighbor’s car. The neighbor was on vacation at the time. The father sent the boy to his room for a “time out”. Thirty minutes later the police arrived and arrested the father for domestic violence. He was arrested by one of his own deputies. The son had called in the complaint and the officer had to arrest the violator. Only a judge can unarrest. The father was a Sargent and worked patrol. He was reassigned to a desk and spent one year as an unarmed officer and lost overtime for one year. The judge was required to assign the correct punishment and his Chief was required to implement it. This is the law. Insult to injury, my friend had to pay his son’s fine and get him a lawyer to represent him for Grand Theft Auto for the “barrowed” vehicle. That was a few years ago and the son is still a jerk. Life is not fair
Yes,the son is really a jerk unfortunately there are a lot of them anymore. What is worse is that given the facts of the case the justice system FAILED miserably when the judge did not ‘unarrest’. Adding additional injustice by requiring the father to hire a lawyer for the thief etsetera,etsetera,etcetera.
What is this World coming too. An underage child has to be cared for and , and watched closely
the father has the right to take her phone for whatever reason.. He is the adult and her if her father felt that it was necessary to take the daughters phone..The mother should have agreed with the Father
Poor excuse of a mother….Not a good example to the daughter…
You are totally right. Unfortunately, she may be part of the problem. Children should not be allowed to run rampant.
They [the parents] need total cooperation in raising children. And the kid should not have gotten away with his complaint. The father in this case did not break the law. I hope is able to arrange a boot camp assignment for the bra…!
This is so ridiculous
This is so ridiculous
Nothing surprises me anymore. The inmates are running the asylum.
There’s actually more to this story. The girl apparently lived with her mother, who had purchased the phone and paid the bill (doubtless so she could keep in touch with her during the day). The father didn’t actually become a part of the girl’s day to day life until she was seven but it sounds like some sort of visitation was arranged. Unfortunately, the girl took the phone with her to her father’s. He found something he considered inappropriate and took the phone away from her… permanently… so she went home to her mother’s without it, leaving them unable to communicate through the school/work day. He wouldn’t give it back to the girl or her mother and the mother (doubtless unable to pay for another i phone 4) contacted the police so they could get it for her. But he wouldn’t give it to them either so they kind of had to arrest him as the item really belonged to the girl’s mother. Now the charges have been dropped. He apparently no longer has contact with the girl but he does have an iphone 4. here’s the link http://www.wbir.com/news/jury-dallas-dad-not-guilty-for-taking-tween-daughters-phone/23689412
THANKS 4 CONFIRMING MY SUSPICION. WAS PRETTY SURE PARENTS SEPARATED,DIVORCED. MOTHER PROBABLY THOUGHT A GOOD OPPORTUNITY 2 DO A # ON HER EX.. AS 4 THE COMMUNICATION DURING SCHOOL/WORKDAY, THEY SHOULD B WORKING OR STUDYING NOT YAKKING,TEXTING OR SENDING SELFIES. ANY EMERGENCIES SHOULD BE HANDLED BY TEACHERS,SUPERVISORS ETC..
What’s going on is the Useful Idiots are running the government. Look up the 1963 Congressional Record concerning the 45 Planks or step to Communism. After you read all of the Planks come back and read all of the stories on this site again. Then ask under who’s authority was it who ordered the American government to follow the Soviets plan to destroy America? Who is this person I want to hang them upside down by their toes from a tree in the Everglades. They won’t look like a bat in a tree but there will be some bats there.
The father did his job as a father. A 12 year old is not an adult. If a parent sees an inappropriate message on their child’s phone they should deal with it.
It seems to me the problem is with the mother. It seems she is trying to join the “affluenza teen’s” mom in the running for the bad parent of the year award.
The judge was right to find the father not guilty. Children need to grow up in a home where parents teach the difference between right and wrong. The father is doing his job. It sounds like this mother isn’t.
not much of a mother for even thinking about calling the police for her spoiled daughter. in my day, the problem would be addressed with a leather belt. end of problem. lesson learned
Right on about the leather belt. When our government got involved in overstepping a parent’s right to discipline their children, this is what we have – a lot of spoiled brats.
Hurrah for the father and thumbs down to the mother.
CHICAGO THUNDER WANTS TO KNOW WHO IS RUNNNING THINGS. PLEASE THUNDERER GET HITCHOCK’S BOOK “THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN, IT IS THE JEWISH FINANCIAL CONSORTIUM WHO IS OUT TO DESTROY AMERICA AND THE AMERICAN CHRISTIAN PEOPLE, TO CONQUER THE GLOBE WITH ONE WORLD SOCIALISM VIA THE DEMOCRT/LIBERAL/SOCIALISM POLITICAL SYSTEM
Good for you dad. I am sorry you do not have the support of your wife in this matter. Not sure where your wife’s head is at, but I am proud that you have stood on moral grounds when it comes to your daughter. Your daughter will have more respect for you further down the road of life. I had a similar situation with my daughter years ago, and I do not regret taking what I did away as she and I have a good relationship now.
The basic problem here is with the so-called mother and father. Neither one is qualified to be a mother or a father. When they are unable to live together as a family there is bound to be friction, misunderstanding, confusion, and whatever else is undesirable and inappropriate in the relationships involved. America is becoming a wasteland filled with derelicts who have abdicated their God-given rights for the evils of Satan. Politically correct, if it is morally wrong, is still wrong. God, who created the earth, the universe, the people and all other things that exist, is very much displeased with the ways in which mankind has devised to betray His teachings. Common sense should teach us many right and correct principles concerning life an d the responsibilities attendant thereto. There was a time when cell phones, of whatever type, were not in existence. People lived and died without ever needing them. Today we have become so “instant gratification dependent” that we seemingly cannot function at all unless we have a direct connection to something or someone far distant from us at the time. Slow down; relax; smell the roses; observe the sunrise; hear the birds sing; cut the grass; rake the leaves; go fishing. Before any and all of these things, stop and meditate upon the many blessings we have today from God Himself. And do not respond to this message by saying that we have the “right” to do the things, all the things, that are available to us today. Poison is available, but would you take it just because it exists? Do one thing today that is beneficial, profitable and decent: Find someone who has a real need but who cannot fill that need. Fill the need; do not let the person know from whence the fulfillment came. And above all, DO NOT TELL ANYONE THAT YOU DID IT! There is enough bragging going on already. Do this, and tonight when you put your head upon your pillow you will be able to rest in peace. May God bless the efforts of His people. And God Bless America!
Congratulations to the judge for seeing through the fog.
Of course, a question arises as to the parents being separated.
Yes, the father should have been commended for actually caring enough to take the phone.
I was going to agree but then thought this:
None of us can know what the father’s motive was. Was it really caring or was it to control? We can’t judge what we dont know.
this bs has to stop common sense has died the system is totaly corrupt
American society is sick and broken by warped laws enacted by morally bankrupt legislators …and interpreted by crackpot judges !
It’s the prosecutor who decides what cases to prosecute. In my county, the prosecutor would have been fired, impeached, or whatever was required to get rid of him/her. The judge would probably have held the prosecutor in Contempt for bringing such a case before the court.
Since when do children dictate to parents?
the big thing is what 12 year old just cant live without a phone, lets be real here, thats the real issue,all these younger people with a phone. now thats good parenting.and just because other children have one you dont have to give them one. you know i grew up when party lines were around and our parents knew where we were. most parents today are just too lazy. this one isnt though and did what a good parent should,without worrying about being charged.and children calling the law on their parents for being disciplined is crap. we need corpral punishment in the scholls and home. it sure helped us on the right path
In the big cities this type of legal lunacy is the norm. Smaller cities and counties still retain moral values, but they too are erroding.
A little socialism is good for any community. But when laws are stacked upon laws, upon laws, it leads to conflict of law, to extreme socialism, then to communism and eventually dictatorship.