Mom charged with allegedly aiding daughter, classmates in vandalism
A Northridge woman faces several criminal charges in connection with help her 14-year-old daughter and her teenage classmates allegedly received in the vandalizing of former friends' homes with human feces and scrawled swastikas, city prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors say Catharine Whelpley, 43, has been charged with three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She also faces two counts of vandalism, two counts of trespass and two counts of tampering with a vehicle in connection to aiding and abetting the juveniles, according to prosecutors.
"The conduct alleged in this case is unacceptable in our society," City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said in a statement. "The persons responsible for such conduct, including parents, will be held accountable for their actions."
Whelpley is accused of helping her daughter and classmates exact revenge on at least two of her former friends in April, prosecutors said, when she allegedly drove her daughter and two of her friends, age 13 and 14, to the home of one of their former middle school friends.
The defendant then drove the teens to a second property, officials with the city attorney's office said, where the teens again teepeed the property, smeared feces on the porch and poured syrup on the vehicle.
Whelpley's daughter wrote "Jew" and drew swastikas in maple syrup on the victim's property, prosecutors allege.
After waiting in the car during the vandalism spree, Whelpley drove the girls back to her home, prosecutors said.
The vandalism was reported to the Los Angeles Police Department after the teens' alleged exploits were captured on a neighbor's surveillance camera.
It is unclear if any legal action has been taken against the three girls.
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--Andrew Blankstein (Twitter.com/anblanx)
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