He's been arrested, searched, charged with a felony and now 9-year-old Jeremy Anderson is headed for trial - all because he wrote his name in wet concrete.
A plea of not guilty was entered this week for Jeremy, who is charged with malicious destruction of property valued at more than $5,000."I think it's outrageous. I think the charge is ludicrous. The whole thing has been mishandled," said Jeremy's mother, Barbara Anderson.
In November, Jeremy and some of his friends were on their way home from school when a construction worker asked if they wanted to write their names in a freshly poured concrete sidewalk, Jeremy says.
"The man said I could, so I did," said Jeremy, who has won citizenship awards at his elementary school.
He and his friends wrote their names and made hand and footprints.
A few weeks later, the contractor contacted Jeremy's mother, saying she owed $11,000 because the company would have to redo the sidewalk. She refused.
Anderson forgot about the conversation until Jan. 28, when Jeremy didn't come home on the school bus. His school said police had taken Jeremy and they couldn't reach his mother at work.
In Nevada, police can arrest anyone 8 years and older for a crime, and property crimes above $5,000 are considered felonies. The other children weren't charged because they are younger than 8.
Cranford Crawford, assistant director of Family and Youth Services, said children are stripped down to their underwear and searched during booking at Juvenile Hall.
"That's a lot of horrible mental anguish," said Robert Kossack, a civil rights attorney representing the boy.