Parents of Ethan Crumbley, the teen arrested for the murder of four schoolmates and the wounding of seven other people, have been charged with manslaughter.

This is the first time that parents of school shootings have been held accountable for the actions of their children.

It has been reported that Ethan’s parents, purchased a semiautomatic 9-millimeter Sig Sauer as an early Christmas gift. Ethan posted a picture of the gun on his social media page calling it “my new beauty”.

The family spent Thanksgiving testing out Ethan’s “new beauty”, which would then be left stored in an unlocked draw in his parent’s bedroom for his ready access.

When a teacher at school reported seeing Ethan searching online to purchase ammunition, and advised his parents of the same, Ethan’s mother text her son “LOL I’m not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught”.

When a teacher at school sighted disturbing pictures drawn my Ethan depicting shooting other students, again, his parents were not alarmed and insisted he remain at school.

That same day, Ethan murdered four schoolmates and wounded seven other people. Ethan’s parents fled town before being arrested on manslaughter charges.

The Crumbleys are the first parents to be deemed culpable to a deadly school shooting. The Prosecution will build their case around the allegation that they allowed their son access to a handgun while ignoring glaring warnings that he was on the brink of violence.

The matter is in the very early stages of Court proceedings. If the Jury or a Judge find the Crumbley’s guilty of manslaughter, this case could become a very powerful precedent for the accountability of parents in their children’s criminal behaviour.

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.