Shoplifting minors

Laz123

Deleted_User said:

Hi, I didn't know where to post this as I'm quite embarrassed about the whole thing. My son is 14 (autistic) my daughter is 11. Today, completely out of the blue, they were brought home by the police as they had been caught trying to steal soft toys from a local toy store. We were massively shocked as it was totally out of character and not how we've been trying to bring them up. I really don't condone what they've done and they've been properly reprimanded by myself and my wife and are now in bed. The thing I wanted to ask is what are shops allowed to do with regard to detaining minors. Obviously, I know what they did was wrong and I'm not downplaying it, but they were held for over an hour in a locked room and questioned repeatedly by 4 different people. My autistic son has been crying since 4pm when he got home (I know the stealing is the route cause). Both were also searched by staff before the police turned up. I'm not trying to excuse what they've done, I've been quite sterne with them over the issue and believe it was a one off, im just surprised that shop security might have this level of power over minors and vulnerable people.

Autism covers a whole spectrum of symptoms. What are the ones your son displays?