One would think law enforcement would have better things to do than to arrest a 10-year-old child for urinating in public. Unfortunately, in Senatobia, Mississippi, this appears not to be the case.

In August, local law enforcement took Quantavious Eason into custody after an officer spotted him relieving himself next to his mother’s vehicle while she was attending an appointment.

LaTonya Eason, the mother of 10-year-old Quantavious Eason, said she was at an appointment August 10 at a business and her son, who was outside, saw a sign saying there was no public restrooms, so he decided to relieve himself on private property near her vehicle, Eason told reporters Wednesday during a news conference with her attorney. An officer who was driving by spotted the boy, she said. He stopped and went inside the business looking for Quantavious’ mother, she said. Eason said she admonished her son for his behavior and the officer seemed satisfied.

She thought the ordeal was over.

“I said, ‘Well you know better, don’t let it happen again.’ The officer was like ‘you handled it like a mom just make sure he doesn’t do it again. He can get back in the car,’” Eason said.

Then four other Senatobia police officers, including a lieutenant arrived, according to Eason. She said her son was arrested, put in a police vehicle and taken to a police station.

Eason said the arresting officer said he had to take action. He “was like, ‘Yeah, I got to arrest him. He can’t do that.’ He made my son get out of the car, told my baby to put his hands behind his back and they took him to the patrol car.” Senatobia is located in northern Mississippi, less than 30 miles south of the Tennessee state line.

After being arrested, the boy was held in a cell at the police station while the officers completed the paperwork. Now, Quantavious has been given three months probation and is ordered to write a two-page essay on basketball legend Kobe Bryant. He will be required to check in with his probation officer once per month.

Given the circumstances, any child would have done the same thing, Moore said. He noted there was no public restroom at the attorney’s office.

“He did what any reasonable person would do: He urinated next to the car behind the door — not exposing himself to anyone,” Moore said. “He would not have been arrested, prosecuted or sentenced if he was any other color, race, besides Black.”

Moore said he’s baffled that an arrest was made, that prosecutors then pursued the case, and that a youth judge this week oversaw a sentence that included probation and requiring Quantavious to write a two-page report about Kobe Bryant.

Quantavious was charged in youth court with being a child in need of supervision, Moore said. The child is required to check in with a probation officer once a month for three months, Moore said.

“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,” 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.”

A 10-year-old Black child in Mississippi who urinated in public in August has been sentenced in youth court to three months' probation, a decision the child’s attorney alleges was influenced by race. https://t.co/MvSdqc1yui

— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 14, 2023

Latonya said on Wednesday that she is not sure whether her son’s skin color was a contributing factor to his arrest and prosecution but argued that her son “is going through enough getting arrested, and then for him having to see a probation officer and then write an essay, I don’t think it’s right or it’s fair.”

It appears the local police department understands that the officers’ treatment of the boy was excessive. One of the officers involved is no longer with the force, and other officers have been disciplined as well.

After the incident, Senatobia Police Chief Richard Chandler told FOX13 that the child should have never been taken to the police station.

"Under these circumstances, it was an error in judgement for us to transport the child to the police station since the mother was present at that time as a reasonable alternative. Mistakes like this are a reminder in this profession as to the continual need for training and refreshers on the various topics that we encounter each day," the police chief said.

The fact that the department acted to rectify its mistreatment of Quantavious and hold the officers accountable is a positive sign. But the fact that he is still being prosecuted for this offense is absurd. The notion that a child deserves to be placed in a cage for urinating in public instead of allowing his mother to handle the situation is an example of the type of policing Americans should not have to deal with, especially when there are actual crimes that law enforcement should be handling.