A 10-year-old in Mississippi who was arrested for urinating in public gets probation and a book report assignment
By Jade Gordon, CNN
(CNN) — A 10-year-old Mississippi boy who was arrested for urinating in a parking lot has been placed on probation and ordered to write a book report.
During a Tuesday hearing in the Youth Court of Tate County, Quantavious Eason was given three months’ probation and assigned a two-page book report on the late NBA basketball player Kobe Bryant, but the incident will not go on his record, family attorney Carlos Moore told CNN.
Eason was not declared delinquent or in need of supervision and was non-adjudicated, according to Moore.
The boy was arrested and transported to the Senatobia Police Department in August after he decided to relieve himself on private property near his mother’s vehicle, because signs said there were no public restrooms, CNN previously reported.
The boy’s mother, LaTonya Eason, said at a news conference in September an officer who was driving by spotted her son, stopped and went inside the business to look for her. The mother said she admonished her son for his behavior and the officer seemed satisfied.
Then four other Senatobia police officers, including a lieutenant arrived, according to the mother. She said her son was arrested, put in a police vehicle and taken to a police station.
Moore told CNN at the time the 10-year-old was “distraught and now afraid of police, and he will start counseling.”
When Quatavious was arrested, the officer filed a youth court referral that resulted in Tuesday’s hearing.
About 10 days after Eason’s arrest, the officer involved was terminated. The Senatobia Police Department did not release the officer’s name.
“The officer’s decisions violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations,” a statement from the police department said.
The incident triggered an internal investigation, and “as a result of this investigation, one of the officers involved is no longer employed, and the others will be disciplined. We will also have mandatory Juvenile training department-wide, just as we do every year.”
Moore said he and his clients expect to take additional action in the future.
Senatobia is located in northern Mississippi, less than 30 miles south of the Tennessee state line.
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