Two adults and their teenage daughter have been charged with providing alcohol to teens after authorities received an anonymous tip about an underage party.
The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro have set up an underage drinking reporting tipline to help curb underage drinking. It was through that tipline that authorities were alerted to the Canon family.
According to the tip, a party was being held during the early morning hours of Jan. 29 at the home of David and Janet Canon.
The tipster reported that underage teens were allegedly drinking at this party. When officers arrived at the home to investigate, both adults was present, but officers were not allowed to gain entry to the home.
"Though a number of teens were reportedly present at the party, other than the charged parents, no other adults were present," said Pat Burns, retired Chapel Hill Police lieutenant and liaison for Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers. "Presumably no other parents knew of the alcohol accommodation being provided their children."
After completing an investigation, police have charged 57-year-old David Canon and 42-year-old Janet Canon with three counts of aiding and abetting underage alcohol usage. Their daughter, 17-year-old Julia Canon has been charged with consuming alcoholic beverage.
We tried to reach the Canon family, at their Chapel Hill home but they were not available.
Teens say the temptation to drink is constant, and sometimes parents are the source.
"Giving alcohol to your kids, you may think, 'Oh it's just my kids, they're not gonna do anything.' But they could give it to their friends or spread it even farther, and it's a really dangerous thing," one 15-year-old said.
"It's hard to stay away from, but you can just walk away," a 14-year-old echoed.
Ronald Bogle, a former superior court judge who now leads the Coalition for Alcohol and Drug Free Teenagers in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, says many studies show alcohol has a big impact on teenagers' brains, which are still developing.
"The health harm to them is extraordinary. There's no such thing as a safe drink for teenagers," Bogle said.
He added, "It is not unusual that families are contributors to the problems of underage drinking not only here in this community but really around the country. But it's very unusual when you have law enforcement make that intervention to actually charge a family."
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