Ohio Cemeteries Sue Young Vandals’ Families

Associated Press
Published: November 3, 2009

ST. BERNARD, Ohio - The owner of two Ohio cemeteries has filed a civil lawsuit against the families of three juveniles convicted of doing more than $300,000 in vandalism.

But officials with the Cincinnati Catholic Cemetery Society say they fear they’ll recover only a small fraction of the money needed to make repairs to St. Mary and St. John cemeteries.

Some 300 monuments, gravestones and statues - some dating back to the 1850s - were damaged last year. An attorney for the cemetery society says it looked as though a tornado went through the graveyards in the Cincinnati suburb of St. Bernard.

One family is fighting the lawsuit. The insurance company for another has paid the cemeteries $30,000. The third family agreed to a $30,000 judgment but doesn’t have the money to pay it.

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Reader Reactions

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Flag Comment Posted by Big Rick on November 03, 2009 at 11:31 am

Certainly someone needs to be held financially responsible. Good for these cemetaries. Make em pay at least something.

Flag Comment Posted by Retlaw on November 03, 2009 at 10:50 am

I say garnish the wages of the parents and if the money is not paid back by the time the offenders have a job, garnish theirs too. Family pride and shame in the community used to curtail actions such as these. But nowadays you have to hit ‘em in the checkbook to force these “parents” to hold their kids responsible and actually act like a parent. Another example of Springer society in action. Sad.

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