Juvenile Runaway Taken Over State Lines
Thomas Edmiston, an 18-year-old teenager from Tennessee, is facing charges here in Michigan for transporting an underaged runaway across state lines. In reality, while their ages make one of them guilty and one of them a “victim” in the eyes of the law, both teens conspired via Facebook, to run away together.
The juvenile runaway is a 15-year-old girl from Kalkaska, who is currently going through juvenile court proceedings for being an “incorrigible runaway.” Which means that she has a history of running away from her home on a regular basis, and her parents have tried other forms of discipline without success. When the prosecutor files an incorrigibility petition with the court, a judge decides the punishment for a child. This could include locking them up in juvenile detention, court-ordered counseling, or probation.
Police able to determine who the girl made plans with
With regards to Edmiston, he and the 15-year-old met online, and police have been able to find a number of prior interactions between them on Facebook. And it was through this form of social media that police were able to determine who the girl had made plans with, and where she had gone.
According to court records, the pair met up at a McDonald’s in Kalkaska before leaving together. They drove to Columbia, Tennessee, where the Columbia police were alerted and they were both taken in custody. The young girl was returned to Michigan, where she will face the music for her repeated efforts to run away.
Edmiston, however, was extradited to Michigan on a warrant from the Kalkaska Police Department. He has now in Michigan and in police custody. He has been charged with Obstruction of Justice, which is a felony under Michigan law.
According to members of the Michigan State Police Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, this is the kind of thing that parents can help avoid, if they make an effort to be more involved in their children’s online lives. Creating a Facebook account and friending your children is a great way, without being intrusive, to see who they are interacting with.