Jennifer and James Crumbley given historic sentences for teenage son Ethan's crime
Columbine survivor warns sentencing of Crumbley parents sets 'dangerous precedent'
Columbine shooting survivor Craig Scott explains why he disagrees with the prison sentencing of the parents of the Michigan school shooter, arguing they couldn’t predict their son's actions
A Columbine High School shooting survivor warned the prison sentences for Michigan high school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents set a "dangerous precedent" by removing responsibility from the criminal, who "knew what he was doing."
"I think that it removes responsibility out of the hands of this teenager," Craig Scott said Wednesday on "Fox & Friends."
"I speak at a lot of schools across the country and deal with emotional resilience and try to affect cultures of schools and students' lives by inspiring kindness and resilience, and I think this is a bad and dangerous precedent to take the blame of a teenager who knew what he was doing was wrong. He had a dark motivation for wanting to be infamous. And now they're giving 10 to 15 years to the parents… and I think it's wrong."
JENNIFER AND JAMES CRUMBLEY SENTENCED IN SON'S MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTING
Craig Scott, a Columbine survivor, said he believes the sentencing sets a dangerous precedent. (Fox & Friends)
Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents in the U.S. to be held criminally responsible for a mass shooting perpetrated by their child, leaving many to speculate what impact the historic sentence could have on future cases involving minors.
Their son Ethan, who was 15 years old at the time, carried out the crime at Oxford High School in Michigan in November 2021, killing four and injuring seven others before being taken into custody.
Prosecutors suggested the Crumbleys, who stopped by the school to meet with counselors about disturbing content Ethan had drawn in class the day the shooting took place, could have prevented the incident.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were sentenced on Tuesday, making history as the first parents to be held criminally responsible for a mass shooting perpetuated by their child. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)
Two separate juries later found Jennifer and James guilty on four counts of manslaughter in association with Ethan's crime and they were sentenced Tuesday to 10-15 years in prison.
Scott, responding to a question concerning allegations that Ethan's parents ignored warning signs about their son, said the sentencing could make parents more "cautious," but the method is still problematic.
"This teenager admitted in court that he lied a lot. He was lying to his parents, he was lying to everyone around him. Ultimately, it was his decision that he was making, and he knew what he was doing was wrong," he said.
"Yes, I think it will make parents more cautious, but there's all kinds of people that could be opened up to being attacked for someone else's decisions."
Scott's sister Rachel was one of 13 killed by students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris during the Columbine High School massacre in April 1999.
When asked if there were warning signs that the two shooters were going to open fire on their schoolmates, Scott said, "Hindsight is 20/20."
"The mother of one of the shooters is now friends with my family, with my mother," he continued.
"She was a special education teacher, a wonderful person, and she had no idea [the shooting would happen]. She saw the depression. She saw the mental health issues. She saw the volatile anger issues, but she could have never predicted what her son was going to do."
Scott added if Ethan Crumbley's parents had foreseen his crime, they wouldn't have bought him a gun as a Christmas present, referencing the firearm the family purchased for him shortly before the shooting occurred.
Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.
