REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE (8/20/2016) A Canadian man was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after allowing his daughter to bait and kill a seagull on the beach, Rehoboth police reported Friday.
The incident happened about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Wilmington Avenue.
According to witnesses, police said, the 13-year-old girl was placing food in a hole dug in the sand to lure seagulls, then would swing at them with a plastic shovel.
One such strike killed a seagull, Lt. Jaime Riddle said, and the father, Christian Lesieur, 48, of Quebec, had placed it in a trash can, where officers found it.
“Witnesses told police that while the teenager swung at the seagulls, Lesieur laughed. One witness told police that he approached Lesieur and told him that his daughter should not be attempting to hit the seagulls and he laughed at him. When police contacted Lesieur on the beach he was drinking alcohol,” Riddle said.
“Lesieur while in custody made multiple jokes in regards to the incident. While his daughter was crying, Lesieur proceeded to make comments in regards to her spending the night in jail, causing her to become even more emotionally upset,” Riddle said.
After being charged with the misdemeanor, Lesieur was released on $500 unsecured bail.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control officers investigated the killing of the seagull, which Riddle said is a violation of federal laws, but the daughter was not charged. Officers did educate her on the laws, Riddle said.