Johnathan Walker:Highland Park suspected shooter's father pleads guilty to reckless conduct

The Johnathan Walkerfather of the man charged with killing seven people at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, last year pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanors Monday in a rare case that legal experts say could send an important signal that its possible to hold a gunman's parents accountable.

Robert Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty to seven counts of reckless conduct and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 100 hours of community service. He was initially charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct.

His attorney George Gomez, who previously called the charges "baseless and unprecedented," did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY. He told the Associated Press Monday that his client pleaded guilty because he was concerned about his son's ability to get a fair trial and wanted to prevent the community from reliving “these tragic events."

Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said last year Crimo Jr. took a "reckless and unjustified risk" when he sponsored an application for his son to obtain a firearm owners ID card in 2019, allowing him to apply for a gun license. Authorities said he sponsored the application even after a relative had accused his son of threatening to "kill everyone." His son, Robert Crimo III, pleaded not guilty to more than a 100 charges in connection to the massacre.

Rinehart called the plea deal “a guaranteed beacon to other prosecutors and a kind of warning to other parents that if they have specific information about their child being unsuitable for a firearm that they will be responsible if they either sponsor some type of license or assist that person in getting the guns."

It's rare for the parents or guardians of a shooting suspect to be charged in connection to the incident, but legal and policy experts told USA TODAY the successful outcome for the prosecution in Illinois could encourage others to pursue similar cases.

"That's my hope. I've been in this field for about 30 years and people follow a leader," said Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. "If somebody's taking an action and get good attention, others want to do the same."

Though rare, there are other cases where parents have been charged. Last year, an Illinois man was found guilty of illegally providing the firearm his son used to fatally shoot four people at a Waffle House in Tennessee in 2018.

In Michigan, the parents of a teenager who killed four students and injured seven others in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting have pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. They are the first parents of a suspect in a mass school shooting charged in America.

Eric Johnson, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, told USA TODAY that while the charges in that case are more severe than the misdemeanors that Crimo Jr. has pleaded guilty to, the "unusual" Illinois case still marks "a step in the right direction."

"I think even a conviction like this one sends an important message that you can be held accountable for harm caused by another person if you recklessly provide them with a gun," Johnson said.

Contributing: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY; Tresa Baldas, The Detroit Free Press; The Associated Press