The girls were hauled into court after their mother refused to pay a repair bill without first seeing evidence that her daughters intentionally damaged the swing.
This is bureaucratic insanity.
Two young sisters, ages 10 and 12, were criminally charged after a playground swing broke while they were playing with other children in Springdale, Pennsylvania.
The ordeal began on May 21 at Veterans Memorial Park, northeast of Pittsburgh, when a group of children decided to twist the swing’s chains tightly and release them so the riders would spin around and become dizzy, according to WTAE.
It was the kind of playground stunt children have performed for generations.
But this time, one of the chains snapped.
According to their mother, Katie Huss, her daughters immediately told her what had happened when she arrived to pick them up.
Approximately two weeks later, a Springdale police officer reportedly arrived at the family’s home carrying surveillance photographs and seeking payment for the damaged swing.
Huss said the photographs showed numerous children participating, prompting her to question why police were approaching her family alone. The borough later maintained that five juveniles were identified and that the approximately $295 repair bill was divided equally, about $59 per child.
Three families reportedly paid their shares.
Huss refused, saying she wanted evidence that her daughters had intentionally broken the swing and information showing when the playground equipment had last been inspected or repaired.
Then the situation escalated dramatically.
The borough pursued criminal-mischief charges against her 10- and 12-year-old daughters.
“They were super scared,” Huss told WTAE. “They’re good little girls. They go out, and they play.”
Springdale officials denied giving the family a direct “pay or your children will be charged” ultimatum. Officials argued that restitution had been offered as a way to resolve the matter without continuing juvenile proceedings.
But when Huss declined to pay, her daughters still ended up as defendants in court, Triblive reported.
At the hearing, a Springdale police officer testified that the children had violated a posted playground rule instructing visitors not to twist the swing chains.
Borough Solicitor Craig Alexander reportedly argued that people sometimes break rules for the thrill of it.
There was just one enormous problem with the borough’s case: Criminal mischief requires evidence of criminal intent.
The judge determined that the children’s conduct caused the swing to break but found insufficient evidence that the girls intended to damage it. They were consequently found not responsible.
In other words, the children were playing recklessly, not carrying out a calculated attack against municipal playground equipment.
Common sense finally prevailed in the courtroom, but only after two little girls were subjected to criminal proceedings over a broken swing and a $59 repair dispute.
Huss said she would have understood a warning or a conversation explaining how the equipment should be used. What she never expected was for ordinary childhood misbehavior to result in actual criminal charges.
That should have been the end of it.
It wasn’t. Now they want to sue the mom over pocket change
Even after the acquittal, borough officials have vowed to file a civil complaint to recover repair costs. Huss says she is “still waiting to find out if they’re going to escalate it further as they promised.” Her answer: “I’m not going to give in.”
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