Joplin reaches settlement over handcuffed boy

JOPLIN, Mo. -- City officials have agreed to pay about $16,000 to the family of a boy who was handcuffed and arrested last year at his elementary school.

The parents of the boy, Jamie and Jane Karns of Joplin, claimed the arrest violated their son's civil rights. The settlement, approved Tuesday, admits no wrongdoing and effectively closes the door on possible future litigation regarding the incident.

The Karnses and officials at Eastmorland Elementary School say officer Charles Ward went to the school on Nov. 15, 2004, to question the then-11-year-old boy about a confrontation the child had had with the officer's son.

Ward later called Ron Buchanan, the school's Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer, who continued to question the boy inside the principal's office before handcuffing him and taking him to juvenile authorities.

The incident resulted in a U.S. Department of Justice probe, but that did not result in any charges.

The city conducted its own investigation and said it disciplined the officers but declined to elaborate.

"My client went through an ordeal that no 11-year-old should have to go through," said Karns family attorney William Fleischaker. "A good settlement beats a trial any day. I think the result was fair to my clients.

Under the agreement filed in Jasper County Court and approved Tuesday by Circuit Court Judge Jon Dermott, the city will make a total of $16,008 in payments to the family and an attorney for the child, now 12. The settlement says the city and its officers continue to deny "any and all liability" connected to the Karns family's allegations.

A Joplin city spokeswoman directed calls to the city attorney, who was out of the office and did not respond to a message.

Both officers have previously written letters of apology to the boy, but Jane Karns has said she was not satisfied with those apologies.