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Marysville father accused of bringing 13-year-old son along on burglary

EVERETT, Wash. — Nathan Hensley was in Snohomish County Court on Monday, accused of burglarizing a Marysville home that was up for sale. What alarms police and prosecutors is that they say he brought his 13-year-old son along for the crime.

They were spotted by the property owner, Lannon McCafferty. She said they were loading up a pickup with a lawn mower, a vacuum cleaner, a shop vac and plants from the house. McCafferty said, "it wasn't a huge dollar amount of items they stole from us, but it was just the idea of coming in and taking stuff that wasn't theirs."

The woman questioned Hensley about what he was doing. She said Hensley claimed he was just collecting some of his things after recently moving out of the house. McCafferty snapped a photo of the man's license plate and it was that photo that helped police track down Hensley at his Marysville home.

Investigators talked to Hensley's son when they arrested his dad. The boy confirmed that he went along on the burglary, and was loading up property. According to court documents, "he said he was scared. He said that a woman confronted them and started taking pictures of them. He said he was very scared because he knew they were not supposed to be there and that they should not be taking property." A prosecutor, John Stansell said Hensley didn't just take things, he endangered his son by bringing him along on a burglary. Stansell said, "I don't think it stretches the imagination when you go into somebody's house, that somebody could be there. And certainly there have been deaths."

Nathan Hensley has a criminal history that includes burglary and aggravated abuse cruelty towards a child in Florida. However they are old crimes, going back to the 1980s. Largely for that reason, a judge released the man on his own recognizance for now, under the condition that he not commit other crimes.