Texas Dad Found Not Guilty For Taking Daughter's Phone as Punishment

A North Texas father was arrested on a theft charge for confiscating his daughter's cell phone; however, "justice" was finally served, said a local news source.

Ronald Jackson was originally arrested by Grand Prairie police after investigators attempted to retrieve the phone, but were never successful in their efforts.

A judge at the Dallas County Courthouse found Jackson not guilty on Tuesday, citing a lack of evidence to move forward with the case.

Jackson said in 2013, when his daughter was 12, he discovered a text that he found rude on her phone. He took the phone away to teach her a lesson. 

“I was being a parent. You know, a child does something wrong, you teach them what’s right,” said Jackson. “You tell them what they did wrong and you give them a punishment to show that they shouldn’t be doing that.”

However, when Jackson’s ex-wife found out, whose spouse is a Grand Prairie police officer, the cops were called to get the phone from Jackson. He refused, and around 2 a.m., Jackson got a knock on his door and was arrested.

“I didn’t want the police department telling me how to parent my child. It made no sense to me for them to show up and make a big deal out of something that was a small thing,” Jackson stated. “I couldn’t believe they would go to this extent for a cell phone. It didn’t seem right.”

Jackson was release from jail after posting a $1,500 bail.

A year-and-a-half later, a warrant was issued and Jackson was charged with misdemeanor theft. The father said he couldn’t believe it.  “Why would you need to go arrest somebody for something like that? Don’t you have better things to do as a police officer? Aren’t there bigger crimes in the city to go take care of?”

Judge Lisa Green, of Dallas County, ruled that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove theft had occurred and found Jackson not guilty.

Jackson’s ex-wife said the phone was not his property to take in the first place. If he had just returned the phone from the beginning, she said none of this would have happened. Apparently, the judge disagreed, because Jackson also got to keep the confiscated phone.