A US judge has ruled that the father of an Illinois high
school student can potentially be liable for damages for the
negligent actions of his son. The son allegedly merged the image of
a female classmate’s face with the pornographic image of a female
body and posted the result on his web site, together with her
name.11 Dec 2000
An unnamed female brought legal action against the boy and his father, J. Bowen Palenske. She sued the father for over $50,000 for defamation, invasion of privacy, negligent supervision of a child and negligent entrustment to a child of a dangerous article.
Judge Ward S. Arnold threw out the claims of invasion of privacy and defamation, but refused to throw out the negligence claims. Evidence is expected to be presented soon.
Some critics have said that a computer is no more dangerous in this context than a pencil: both can be abused to create an offensive or defamatory statement, but it would make no sense to hold parents liable for negligently supplying their children with writing instruments.