A Wales man was sentenced last week to 15 days in jail for failing to ensure his child attended school.
Michael Ahkinga Senior was charged with five misdemeanor counts of Contributing to the Delinquency of Minors Under 16 through truancy. He pleaded guilty and was convicted on one charge, with the remaining four being dropped.
Ahkinga will serve in his sentence after his Nov. 1 remand hearing. Akhinga will also serve five days in jail consecutive to the truancy sentence for a conviction of assault in the fourth degree.
District Attorney John Earthman says jail time is quite rare in truancy cases.
Court documents show that Ahkinga was instructed to escort his 11-year-old son to school according to an agreement with the Wales School, but had failed to do so. A trooper affidavit says Ahkinga’s son missed 27 days in the 2008-2009 year, 13 days the following year, and was absent 54 days in the 1st half of the 2010-2011 year.
The district attorney filed charges this June against four parents in Wales and Shishmaref for truancy problems. The mother of Ahkinga’s son, Terry Crisci faced misdemeanor five charges, but her charges are being dropped as part of a plea agreement in Ahkinga’s case. Crisci’s next court date is Nov. 2.
Listen for the full story
Ben Matheson is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
