| For Immediate Release May 10, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
FIVE PARENTS ARRESTED ON CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR PUTTING THEIR SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN AT RISK BY ALLOWING THEM TO BE CHRONICALLY TRUANT DESPITE SCHOOL AND LAW
ENFORCEMENT WARNINGS
*These arrests are the first of their kind in the County
SANTA ANA – Law enforcement arrested five parents today for allowing their children to be chronically truant despite repeated warnings from the schools and police. California law requires school-aged children to be enrolled and attend school and failure to comply with the law can result in juvenile court proceedings for the child or criminal prosecution of the parent(s). The defendants in this case are each charged with one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and face a sentence ranging from probation up to one year in jail and $2,500 in fines.
These parent truancy arrests are the first of their kind in the County and were conducted by the Gang Reduction Intervention Partnership (GRIP) teams from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Orange Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and Orange County Probation Department. GRIP is a law enforcement partnership that identifies at-risk youth and aims to increase school attendance and decrease gang activity.
All arrests were made in the morning after the defendants’ children had been taken to school. The defendants were booked into the Orange County Jail and released on their own recognizance prior to the end of the school day to ensure that no child would be left without proper childcare.
The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned June 7, 2011, at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. The time and Department are to be determined.
Defendants Ayman and Alice Haddadin
Alice Haddadin, 45, and her husband Ayman Haddadin, 47, have a middle school student in the Capistrano Unified School District. By April 2011, the defendants’ child had accumulated 12 unexcused absences during the current school year. Beginning in December 2010, Ayman and Alice Haddadin were sent four separate notices by the school and school district requesting contact and setting up a meeting to discuss the attendance problem. The defendants are accused of failing to respond or attend the meeting. The defendants are accused of having additional knowledge that their son had attendance problems because the minor was subject to GRIP truancy sweeps in January 2010 and 2011 and the parents were advised that they could be prosecuted for continuing to fail to have their child attend school. Ayman and Alice Haddadin are accused of allowing their child to have attendance problems dating back three school years.
Defendants Porfirio Ascencio and Natividad Arteaga
Arteaga, 34, and her ex-husband Ascencio, 43, have a middle school student in the Orange Unified School District. The defendants’ are accused of failing to enroll their child in the middle school.