DOWNEY : Mother Gets 3 Years’ Probation in Truancy Case
The Downey mother of a 12-year-old with numerous unexcused absences from school was sentenced Monday to three years’ probation and ordered to take 250 hours of parenting classes and counseling.
Leticia Delava, 35, was the first California parent in at least 30 years to be charged under the Criminal Code in a truancy case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Higgins said. The district attorney’s office charged Delava with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after her 12-year-old son had at least 30 unexcused absences in the 1990-91 school year. Delava had pleaded no contest to one criminal count.
Delava faced up to a year in jail. But Higgins noted that the student’s attendance has improved this year.
Delava’s attorney said his client, a single mother, should never have been tried in the highly publicized case. “The school district should be working with the family, not newspapers and television stations,” Jeffrey Oberman said.
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