10-Year-Old Black Child Sentenced For Public Urination, Lawyer Says Race Played Role

A 10-year-old Black child in the United States who urinated in public in August was sentenced to three months probation on Tuesday. According to NBC News, Quantavious Eason, who lives in Mississippi, was arrested on August 10 after a police officer caught him relieving himself outside next to his mother's car when she was inside an attorney's office. He was taken to a cell inside of a precinct and was charged this week in youth court as a "child in need of supervision". 

Quantavious is now required to check in with a probation officer once a month for three months, the outlet reported. He also has to write a two-page report about the late basketball player Kobe Bryant. 

Speaking to NBC, the child's attorney, Carlos Moore, claimed that the court's decision was influenced by race. "He (the 10-year-old) did what any reasonable person would do: He urinated next to the car behind the door - not exposing himself to anyone. He would not have been arrested, prosecuted or sentenced if he was any other colour, race, besides black," Mr Moore said.

The family attorney said that he is baffled that an arrest was made, that prosecutors then pursued the case, and that a youth judge this week oversaw a sentence. But he added, "We are not going to appeal". "He will not have a criminal record, this is probation. And he is a fan of Kobe Bryant, so he doesn't mind writing the two-page report," Mr Moore said.

"But, still, the principle of it - he should not have to do anything. He should be enjoying his Christmas holiday like the other kids," the attorney expressed.

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According to HuffPost, Mr Moore now plans to file a federal lawsuit against the police officer and the city of Senatobia. "It was only for 90 days, but in a perfect world, the charge would have been totally dismissed," Mr Moore said.

Notably, in August, the chief of the Senatobia Police Department released a statement about the incident, saying that the officer's actions "violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations". One of the officers involved in the arrest was fired and others were disciplined, the statement said.

"As a result of the investigation, one of the officers involved is no longer employed, and the others will be disciplined," the statement read. "We will also have mandatory juvenile training department-wide, just as we do every year," it added.