Dad Questions Darien's Case Against Son

DARIEN, IL – Andy Williams told Darien officials Monday that his 15-year-old son was cited in March on a charge of trespassing after he and a friend were found on the roof of an apartment complex.

"They shouldn't have been on the roof. I get it," Williams said at a City Council meeting. "But then he was cited with an ordinance and under the city ordinance for trespassing, there has to be a notice posted. That notice was not posted. That doesn't even meet the elements."

Williams warned against treating every infraction by minors as a crime.

"I'm asking us not to take everything and cite it for a penalty without trying to train up children in the way that they should go," Williams said. Adults are not looking at such situations "through the lens of children when we played on roofs and we did things."

Mayor Joseph Marchese said city officials read Williams' email on the topic and that he reviewed the police report.

"I think we're very fortunate that nothing happened to your son. Being on the roof of an apartment complex, he could have been hurt, he could have fallen off the roof," the mayor said. "So I think as much as you're unhappy with the end result, my hope is that he takes this as a learning lesson."

He said the city could not reverse the outcome, given Williams paid the fine.

"No one wants to criminalize a minor for doing something that could easily be seen as a mistake, although I think there are some things minors do that should be criminalized because they are serious," Marchese said.

Williams said he appreciated what the mayor said. But he said his biggest issue was that the city did not meet the elements of a crime, given the notice requirement.