A judge set a $50,000 bond on Saturday for the father of an Illinois man accused of killing seven people at a July 4th parade before shooting his son on a suburban Chicago main street. accused of helping him get a gun license.

Robert Crimo Jr., 58, looked dejected and weary in his first appearance before a judge since voluntarily surrendering to police on Friday. Their attorney, George M. Gomez, told the judge Saturday that the father of three would be able to pay the bond amount required for their release.

Crimo, a rare case of a parent charged after accusing a child in a mass shooting, faces seven felonies of reckless conduct One count for each person fatally shot during the Summertime Parade. Each count carries a maximum prison term of three years.

In a brief 10-minute hearing conducted via video link, Lake County Judge Jacqueline Méliès said she accepted an agreement between Crimo’s attorney and prosecutors that bond should be set at $50,000, up from $500,000. was less than the bond that could be imposed.

Before setting bond, Gomez told the judge that his client had been a business owner for more than 30 years and had lifelong ties to the community of Highland Park, where the summer mass shooting took place. Prosecutors did not oppose Crimo’s release on bond.

“Mr. Crimo is not a danger to the community. He is not a flight risk,” Gomez said, adding that Crimo had fully cooperated with authorities since the shooting.

The judge told Crimo that one of the conditions of his release was that he must produce any firearm license he had at his home within 24 hours of the hearing. Crimo currently resides in Highwood, which borders Highland Park.

Asked by the judge if he could listen to the proceedings via his video link, Crimo said he could – but otherwise made no statement to the court.

Judge Melius set his next hearing for January 12.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Friday that the charges against the father were based on Crimo sponsoring his son’s application for a gun license in December 2019. At that time his son was 19 years old.

“Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teens should have a firearm,” Rinehart said. “In this case, the system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew and signed the form anyway.

Authorities had previously said that the accused shooter, Robert Crimo III, attempted suicide at knifepoint in April 2019 and was accused in September 2019 of threatening to “kill everyone” by a family member.

Those reports came months before Crimo Jr. sponsored his son’s application.

Chicago-area attorney Gomez called the allegations against the father “baseless and unprecedented” in a written statement Friday.

“This decision should alarm every single parent in the United States who, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney, knows what is going on with their 19-year-old adult children and for actions taken almost three years later.” They can be held criminally liable,” Gomez said.

Gomez said her client “continues to feel sympathy and horror for the individuals and families who were injured and lost loved ones.” But the attorney called the charges “politically motivated and a distraction from the real change happening in this country.”

Grand Jury in July Robert Crimo III convicted Among the 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 ​​counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, which represent the seven people killed and dozens injured in an attack on a beloved holiday event in Highland Park.

Legal experts have said it is rare for a parent or guardian of an accused shooter to face charges — partly because such charges are difficult to prove.

afternoon briefing

daily

Top news stories from Chicago Tribune editors, delivered to your inbox every afternoon.

In a notable exception, a Michigan prosecutor brought involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of a teen accused of fatally shooting four students at his high school last year. A January hearing date in that case has been delayed while a state appeals court considers the parents’ appeal.

Officials have previously said that Illinois State Police reviewed Crimo III’s December 2019 gun license application and found no reason to deny it because he had no arrests, no criminal record, no serious mental health issues There were no orders of protection and no other behavior that would be disqualifying. Him.

But after the Parade shooting, public records revealed that Crimo III attempted suicide with a knife in April 2019, recording a “history of attempts,” according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press.

In September 2019, police received a report from a family member that Crimo III had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone”.

Both Krimo III and his mother disputed the threat of violence at the time. Police have said that the father, Robert Crimo Jr., later told investigators that the knives were his, and that officers returned them.

Robert Crimo Jr. has shown up at several pretrial hearings for his son this year, nodding in greeting when his son enters the courtroom and is surrounded by guards. The father has been a familiar face around Highland Park, where he was once a mayoral candidate and was known for running a convenience store.

In media interviews after the shooting, Robert Crimo Jr. said he did not expect to face charges and did not believe he did anything wrong by helping his son obtain a gun license through the state’s established process. Is.