Family braces for change

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Caroline Brooks wants to make parents more accountable.

From the death of her daughter in an August car crash, Caroline Brooks is working for change.

Brooks wants parents to be liable for the criminal actions of their children, and for children to know that the stakes are high when a crime is committed.

“We want to make parental accountability an issue,” Brooks said, with legislation that would impose stiff fines and up to one year in jail for parents who “knew or should have known,” that their children’s activities could result in death or injury.

Her daughter, Sarah Gillette, was killed when the car in which she was riding – driven by a Bainbridge 14-year-old girl – crashed during a joy-riding escapade off Tolo Road. Seven other teens were injured.

The car had been stolen by another girl, also 14, from her parents.

Brooks and her husband Anson have lobbied state Sen. Phil Rocke­feller (D-Bain­bridge Island), seeking his support for such legislation, known in other states as “care, custody and control” laws. Rockefeller lives on Tolo Road, where the crash occurred.

The driver pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in December; the girl accused of felony theft of the vehicle pleaded guilty last week. Both have withdrawn from Bainbridge High School, where they were freshmen, and are now serving time in juvenile detention facilities.

But Brooks believes that the girls’ parents should be held accountable, too.

She alleges that the girl who took her parents’ car had been taking it for joy rides all summer, even after one parent called the parents to tell them about it.

The girl’s attorney, John Henry Browne, disputed those allegations in his client’s court hearing last Wednesday.

“This will make kids realize that their actions are going to affect their families,” Brooks said, “and make parents realize that they need to put quantity time, not just quality time, into the lives of their children, and to make them realize they are accountable.”

Rockefeller said he is looking into the issue.

“I haven’t made any decision about whether to sponsor or drop such a bill, but I did assure her I would look into it and I have directed staff to research laws in other states and compare to what we have on the books,” Rockefeller said last week.

“We do have a law that allows for civil responsibility, so there is an option, if the question is one of holding parents accountable,” he said. “So what I would like to know is whether that is sufficient, or whether we need something beyond that. I am thinking about it.”

Brooks said her family has not yet decided whether to file civil lawsuits against other families whose kids were involved in the crash.

In the meantime, she and her family members – including Sarah’s twin sister Caiti – are distributing $2 donation green bracelets that bear Sarah’s name and her favorite saying: “Live2Love Love2Live.”

Brooks said the purpose of the bracelets is to promote responsibility and awareness on the island.

“Wear and support a green wristband…support our youth on Bainbridge Island,” reads a flier bearing Sarah Gillette’s picture, being handed out around town. “Parents, remember to cherish your children. And to all teenagers, remember to think twice Remember that your actions and choices today can change the lives of so many people forever.”

Brooks said she intends to donate the proceeds from the bracelets to the high school, for a garden memorializing youths who have died.

Principal Brent Peterson said it would not be appropriate to erect a memorial on the campus for any single student, but that money raised from the sale of bracelets could be donated to the PTSO for special landscaping.

He said a group of plantings in an area designated for reflection was a possibility.

“It’s wonderful for Caroline to encourage children and adults to stop and think about the choices they make,” Peterson said.