Judge: Michigan couple must pay son $30,441 for throwing out porn collection

Ruling says parents had no legal right to ‘destroy property that they dislike’

Associated Press in Grand Haven, Michigan

A judge in Michigan has ordered a couple to pay $30,441 (£22,100) to their son, for throwing out his pornography collection.

US district judge Paul Maloney’s decision this week came eight months after David Werking, 43, won a lawsuit against his parents.

Werking said they had no right to throw out his collection of films, magazines and other items, which he said then was worth $29,000 (£21,500).

In his ruling this week the judge followed a value set by an expert, MLive.com reported. Werking’s parents were also ordered to pay $14,500 (£10,500) to their son’s attorney.

Werking lived at his parents’ Grand Haven home for 10 months after a divorce, before moving to Muncie, Indiana. After moving, he learned that his boxes of films and magazines were missing.

Werking’s father wrote in an email: “Frankly, David, I did you a big favor getting rid of all this stuff.”

In his ruling in December last year, Judge Maloney said: “There is no question that the destroyed property was David’s property. Defendants repeatedly admitted that they destroyed the property.”

Werking’s parents said they had a right to act as their son’s landlords.

Maloney responded: “Defendants do not cite to any statute or caselaw to support their assertion that landlords can destroy property that they dislike.”

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