How 2 young girls ended up in court over a broken swing

Two sisters, 10 and 12, found themselves in court facing criminal charges, accused of breaking a swing while playing at their community park. 

What started as a day at the Veterans Memorial Park in Springdale on May 21 turned into a legal battle over a broken swing involving Katie Huss' 12-year-old and 10-year-old daughters, who were found not guilty by the judge. 

"Kids were standing around and turning the swing so it twisted the chains up and then they would let go and the swing would come spinning down and the kids would be dizzy," Huss said. 

The swing broke, and Huss says her daughters told her what happened when she picked them up from the park. Two weeks later, a Springdale police officer came to her home with surveillance photos from the playground, wanting her to pay for the damage.

"There were five, six, seven kids involved in this in the still photos," Huss said. "I asked why they were on my porch with just my two children." 

Huss said she got a call from the borough secretary a couple of days later saying the invoice was ready for her to pick up.

"I informed her I would not be picking up the invoice because I wasn't taking sole responsibility for it," Huss said.   

The borough solicitor says the cost of the damage was divided equally among the five juveniles involved, including Huss' children, amounting to about $59 per child.

The borough claims Huss agreed initially to pay but then changed her mind. Huss says the next thing she knew, in July, her 10- and 12-year-old daughters became defendants in a criminal hearing. She said they were scared and didn't understand what was happening.  

"They charged them with a Pa. crimes code, criminal mischief, which requires intent," Huss said. "And I just didn't believe that my children had any intent to break that swing." 

Last week, the case was decided. The judge said evidence showed the girls damaged the swing, but it was an accident, not intentional. Huss says it was never about the money for her. It was about how the situation was handled.

"If they would've shown me the video and said it cost this much to repair, this is how much the chain cost — I've asked for all of these pieces of evidence before the citations, before the criminal hearing, and I still have yet to get any of that evidence," Huss said. "I haven't even seen the video. The video was played at court for the attorneys but not for us."