An Innisfil couple is sounding the alarm after their teen son was beaten up in scheduled group fights in the forest behind Webster Park in Alcona.
John Smith (name has been changed for privacy concerns) said his 14-year-old son came home a few weeks ago with a black eye and bruised lip. When he asked how he got it, his son told him he fell off his bike.
Unconvinced, Smith told his wife he didn’t believe their son’s story but didn’t press the issue. Smith works in Toronto during the day, while his 14-year-old and nine-year-old stay home during the day with his wife, and on some days the oldest son will go out with friends to play outside or hang out at their house. She never suspected anything was wrong until he came home with the noticeable injuries.
“He said to his mother that he fell on the bike, but when I saw, I asked him ‘Did you fight?’ and he said, ‘No, no, no,’” said Smith.
It wasn’t until a few days later that Smith found out through a family friend his son had admitted to them his wounds were from a fight among a group of teenagers in a nearby forest.
Once the cat was out of the bag, Smith’s son shared information with his parents that rattled them to the core: around 15 teenagers were part of a Snapchat group booking fights among one another.
“But that’s not the worst part,” said Smith, who was told by his son some of the teens in the group were being forced to fight against their will.
On Tuesday, the teen and his parents attended the South Simcoe Police Service North Division to report an assault that had occurred at the park on Thursday, July 14.
The teen told police there had been ongoing threats and they were concerned about further incidents.
As a result of an investigation, on Tuesday police arrested and charged a 14-year-old Innisfil youth with assault, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and uttering threats. The youth was released to his parents with a future court date.
Under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the identity of the accused cannot be released to the public.
Smith says his son will be staying home with his wife for the remainder of the summer and only visiting with friends they are close with, and wants to warn other parents in the area who may have teens involved with the group.
