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Too Much? Mom Shocked After Teenage Boys Charged With Felonies for Stripping Bark From Mature Tree

Park Niles, 13, (l) and Devon Barkema (r), 14.
Park Niles, 13, (l) and Devon Barkema (r), 14. | (Photos: Mug Shots)

A Mason City, Iowa, mother was recently left in shock after her 13-year-old son and his 14-year-old step-brother were arrested and charged with felonies for stripping the bark of a mature tree that was already falling off.

"There's nothing worse than seeing my 13-year-old son turn right, left and front as his mug shot is taken," Naomi Wells, the shocked mother of Parker Niles, told Globe Gazette.

Parker and his step-brother, Devon Barkema, were charged earlier this summer with second-degree criminal mischief, a class D felony, according to the Gazette, for stripping the bark off the mature tree located on Mason City school property.

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Wells explained that the boys were arrested a month ago on Aug. 5 near Roosevelt Elementary School. It is reportedly a popular hangout for her son and his friends.

She said Parker first stripped a bit of the loose bark on the tree and then his friends did the same.

A neighbor who saw Parker and Devon stripping the tree called police who arrested the boys after they allegedly confessed to stripping the tree.

Mason City Police Sgt. Dave Houser told the Gazette that the charges were based on how much it would cost to remove and replace the tree, which Cutting Edge Tree Services estimated to be about $1,166.

"I thought it was high to begin with, but how do you come up with the cost of a tree?" asked Houser, who explained that the tree is expected to die because it is missing about four to five feet of bark from its trunk.

Wells argues, however, that her son and his step-brother were not the only ones involved in the stripping of the tree. Other juveniles involved even carved their initials into the trunk.

She is calling for a thorough investigation and appealing to the police to get other estimates to replace the tree.

Wells said Blanchard Tree Services told her it would cost about $475 to replace the tree. That price tag would eliminate the felony charges.

"My heart is hurting for my son. I don't believe it had to go to this extreme," said the mother, who is worried about her son having a felony conviction.

"I guess as a parent I should be at fault for not teaching him that pulling bark off a tree will kill it," she said. "I made sure to cover sex, drugs, drinking, responsibility, honesty and God, but trees, that one slipped my mind."

She argues that the school district could have handled the case differently, like discussing payment for the tree and making her son do community service instead of pressing felony charges.

Juvenile court services, she explained, told her that the charges will be handled "informally," and she will be allowed to submit the lower estimate for replacing the tree.

In a statement Tuesday, Mason City Community Schools said: "The school district continues to work closely with the police department and families through this process."

Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost

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