HUDSONVILLE, Mich. (WSVN) — Charges have been dismissed against a Michigan mother who faced possible jail time for taking away her teenage daughter’s cell phone as punishment for getting in trouble at school.
Jodie May told WOOD-TV she was “just being a mom, a concerned parent” when she took her 15-year-old’s iPhone away in April. That led to her arrest on a misdemeanor larceny charge after her ex-husband filed a complaint, claiming her discipline was a crime because he was the owner of the phone.
May was freed on bond, but faced up to three months in jail for the charge.
Just before her bench trial was slated to begin Tuesday, prosecutors asked the judge to dismiss the case after finding out May’s ex-husband was not, in fact, the owner of the phone. It turns out, May’s daughter was the actual owner.
Prosecutor Sarah Matwiejczyk told the judge that since May is the “mother of the minor child,” it “changes the case significantly.”
May said while she was happy to see the case dismissed, she called the situation “ridiculous,” telling WOOD-TV, “I can’t believe I had to be put through it, my daughter had to be put through it.”
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