This picture offered by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Waukegan, Ill., reveals Robert Crimo Jr., on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, after turning himself in.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office by way of AP

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Lake County Sheriff’s Office by way of AP

This picture offered by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in Waukegan, Ill., reveals Robert Crimo Jr., on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, after turning himself in.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office by way of AP

CHICAGO — The father of an Illinois man charged with killing seven people in a mass capturing at a July 4 parade in a Chicago suburb has been charged with seven felony counts of reckless conduct, prosecutors introduced Friday.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart stated Robert Crimo Jr. surrendered to police on Friday and could have a bond listening to Saturday. Rinehart stated the fees are primarily based on Crimo sponsoring his then 19-year-old son’s software for a gun license in 2019.

“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenagers should have a weapon,” Rinehart stated. “In this case, the system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew and he signed the form anyway.”

Rinehart would not additional talk about what led his workplace to file the fees this week. Authorities have beforehand stated the accused shooter, Robert Crimo III, tried suicide by machete in April 2019 and in September 2019 was accused by a member of the family of creating threats to “kill everyone.”

Both these stories got here months earlier than Crimo Jr. sponsored his son’s software in December 2019.

Chicago-area lawyer George M. Gomez stated by cellphone Friday that he was representing Robert Crimo Jr. within the newly introduced legal case. He declined to reply questions however emailed a press release that described the fees as “baseless and unprecedented.”

“This decision should alarm every single parent in the United States of America who according to the Lake County State’s Attorney knows exactly what is going on with their 19 year old adult children and can be held criminally liable for actions taken nearly three years later,” the assertion from Gomez stated. “These charges are absurd and we will fight them every step of the way.

Gomez said Crimo Jr. “continues to sympathize and really feel horrible for the people and households who had been injured and misplaced family members,” but the attorney called the charges “politically motivated and a distraction from the actual change that should occur on this nation.”

A grand jury in July indicted Robert Crimo III on 21 first-degree homicide counts, 48 counts of tried homicide and 48 counts of aggravated battery, representing the seven individuals killed and dozens wounded within the assault on a beloved vacation occasion in Highland Park.

Until Friday, Rinehart had refused to debate whether or not the person’s mother and father might face expenses linked to the killings.

Legal specialists have stated it is uncommon for an accused shooter’s mum or dad or guardian to face expenses — partly as a result of it is tough to show such expenses.

In one notable exception, a Michigan prosecutor final yr filed involuntary manslaughter expenses in opposition to the mother and father of a teen accused of fatally capturing 4 college students at his highschool. A January trial date in that case has been delayed whereas the state appeals courtroom considers an attraction by the mother and father.

Authorities have beforehand stated that Illinois State Police reviewed Crimo III’s December 2019 gun license software and located no cause to disclaim it as a result of he had no arrests, no legal file, no critical psychological well being issues, no orders of safety and no different conduct that may disqualify him.

But following the parade capturing, public information confirmed that Crimo III tried suicide by machete in April 2019, based on a police report obtained by The Associated Press that famous a “history of attempts.”

In September 2019, police acquired a report from a member of the family that Crimo III had a group of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone.”

Both Crimo III and his mom disputed the specter of violence on the time. Police have stated father Robert Crimo Jr. later instructed investigators the knives belonged to him, and authorities returned them.

Robert Crimo Jr. has proven up at a number of pretrial hearings for his son this yr, nodding in greeting when he son entered the courtroom shackled and flanked by guards. The father is a longtime resident of Highland Park and a well-known face across the metropolis, the place he was as soon as a mayoral candidate and was well-known for working comfort shops.

In media interviews after the capturing, Robert Crimo Jr. had stated he didn’t anticipate to face expenses and didn’t consider he did something unsuitable by serving to his son get a gun license by the state’s established course of.