Dad Jailed For Failing To Pay Restitution

A man convicted of assault in his son’s death has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for failing to pay restitution for the boy’s medical bills.

Charles Parsons admitted falling $3,400 behind in court-ordered restitution of $200 a month but still kept up with $63-a-month payments for cable television, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said. Parsons was sentenced last week by Superior Court Judge Larry McKeeman.

Parsons and his girlfriend, Melody Ann Martin, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault after his 12-year-old son, Matthew Parsons, was beaten unconscious in 1991.

Part of the boy’s brain was removed as a result of the attack. He died in February at a nursing home in Tucson, Ariz., at age 17.