Crime & Safety

Urbandale Girl Who Reported Abduction Will Not Be Sent to Juvenile Court

Police said the elementary-school girl deserves a second chance.

The elementary-school girl who police say made up a story of attempted abduction earlier this week won't be sent to juvenile court authorities.

"In this case, we're not going to refer it to juvenile court," said Police Chief Ross McCarty. "Our philosophy is to allow the least amount of intrusion to correct the problem."

Late Wednesday afternoon, Urbandale police sent out a press release that a preteen girl reported that a man tried to grab her on a bike trial in the Brookview Park neighborhood in northeastern Urbandale Tuesday.

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Also Wednesday, Urbandale and Johnston school districts sent emails to parents alerting them about the alleged abduction. 

Some readers, commenting on Urbandale Patch and on DesMoinesRegister.com, thought the girl should have some consequences or punishment for using public resources.

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Do you agree with this decision? Tell us why or why not in the comments

McCarty said that a number of factors influenced officers' decision not to involve juvenile authorities:

  • The girl is in elementary school;
  • She is a good student and gets good remarks from her teachers;
  • She has a good support system around her.

"We've assessed this young student and her parents and we think she deserves a second chance." said McCarty. "But we also want to make sure they have adequate availability of resources, and we think they do at this point."

"We're talking about elementary school students. You fight crime by investing in kids," he said.

He said police will monitor the situation for up to a year. If there are problems, they can refer the case to juvenile authorities within that time,  he said.

"I'm betting in this case that we don't have any more incidents," he said.


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