Autumn Pasquale’s Parents File Lawsuit Against Parents of Justin Robinson – Should Youthful Offender’s Parents be Held Legally Responsible? [POLL]

One look at the headline would automatically elicit a “yes” response, especially given the gruesome details of the murder of the Pasquale girl.

And in the wake of the sentencing of 15 (now 16) year old Justin Robinson to 17 years in prison for the murder, one has to ask oneself if his upbringing didn’t have something to do with his and his brother’s carrying out a crime that had the whole state riveted.

But you know as well as I do that no matter how hard you try to bring up your kids to always do right, some will be led astray.

In the latest development of the case:

The father of Autumn Pasquale, who was strangled by a 15-year-old Clayton boy last fall, has sued the boy's parents saying they were negligent in supervising the teen and could have done more to prevent the tragedy.

The suit, filed in Gloucester County Superior Court by Anthony Pasquale, claims Justin Robinson's parents Anita Saunders and Alonzo Robinson knew or should have known before Autumn's murder in October 2012 that their son was "possibly engaging in the theft of bicycles;" required remedial treatment for pre-existing emotional, psychological and neurodevelopmental problems; and had been negatively impacted by witnessing domestic abuse in the home.

"If you're going to raise a murderer, you're going to take responsibility for it," said Kathleen Bonczyk, Anthony Pasquale's attorney for the civil complaint. The suit also seeks monetary compensation for pain, suffering and funeral expenses, as well as a chance to depose those involved to find out specifically what happened the day Autumn was killed, and learn more about how Justin was raised, Bonczyk said.

I don’t believe the parents can wash their hands of this. They (the sons) were minors when this all happened and their parents had to have known something was amiss as far as how their kids were acting. And even if it skipped their gaze, weren’t they then responsible for being negligent?

What we do know is that the mother was the one who noticed a weird posting on her son’s Facebook page which led her to contact authorities. But by that time it was too late and poor Autumn had already met her fate.