Dad Arrested For Taking His Teen Daughter’s Cell Phone Away After She Sent Mean Text Messages To Her Stepsister
“The police department shouldn’t be interfering with my ability to discipline my daughter.”
Ground Picture / Shutterstock When disciplining children, it’s normal for parents to take things away, whether that’s tangible or a privilege. One dad tried to do this by taking his daughter’s phone away, which is fairly common.
He had no way of knowing he would be arrested for doing so.
A father was arrested after he took away his 15-year-old daughter’s phone.
TikTok user @pyxiee1 shared a story that was reported on Inside Edition on the app. It tells the bizarre tale of a father who was arrested for disciplining his daughter in a completely typical way.
“This dad is on trial after being arrested for, of all things, taking away his daughter’s cell phone,” the correspondent stated. “Ronald Jackson says the drama began when his daughter Skyler sent mean text messages to the daughter of his new wife, who is now seven months pregnant.”
“My daughter brought me the phone and said, ‘Look at this,’” Jackson’s wife said. “I read them, and they were hurtful.”
“So, Jackson says he did what lots of parents would do,” the correspondent continued. “He confiscated Skyler’s cell phone.”
Having your phone taken away as a teenager after sending insulting texts to anyone, especially your stepsister, sounds like a perfectly reasonable punishment.
Jackson’s ex did not see it that way.
“Jackson thought the matter was settled until his ex, Michelle, filed criminal charges,” they reported.
“As a mom, I am upset because, number one, the property belongs to me,” she told Inside Edition.
“That’s when police in Texas came knocking on his door. Jackson was arrested. The charge? Theft of property,” the Inside Edition correspondent said.
“Handcuffed me, put me in the back of the car, and took me to jail,” Jackson said of his ordeal.
Jackson said there is a very important piece of the puzzle that could easily be missed, though. “Ronald Jackson believes the real reason he was arrested is that his ex is now dating a police officer from the local department,” Inside Edition reported. “In other words, he claims he’s now the victim of police bullying. Local authorities said that was never an issue.”
The most heartbreaking part of the story came from Skyler’s involvement in the trial and her actions after. She not only testified against her father, but also wrote him a sad letter.
“I have a letter that she gave me where she wants me now to sign away my rights as her father,” Jackson said.
“It’s tragic that it’s come this far,” Jackson’s wife added.
Thankfully, Jackson faced no lasting legal consequences. “After two days of testimony, a remarkable thing happened,” the Inside Edition correspondent said. “The judge actually directed the jury to find Ronald Jackson not guilty.”
Co-parenting and discipline involving phones can be a bit of a legally gray area.
It sounds extreme for a parent to face potential jail time because they took away their child’s phone. After all, that’s a completely normal thing for a parent to do. However, this can get messy when the child’s parents are separated.
Miles Mason Family Law Group stated, “Divorced or separated parents who do not include a plan for their child’s cell phone use — with agreed upon rules and guidelines in the permanent parenting plan — open themselves up to parenting disputes.”
The Law Group went on to say, “Consider confiscation as punishment for bad behavior. With no prior discussion, how might the other parent react? Unless clear rules of use and discipline for misuse were agreed to in advance, unilateral confiscation could backfire in a big way.”
While Jackson saw his actions simply as parenting and disciplining his child, which he has every right to do, his ex saw it as him taking her property that she had purchased.
This is an example of a co-parenting situation that could have been handled better. Hopefully, Jackson's daughter will realize her dad's intent so they can reconcile.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.