A 10-Year-Old Mississippi Boy Was Arrested for Urinating in Public. His Lawyer Says Race Played a Role

“He would not have been arrested, prosecuted or sentenced if he was any other color, race, besides Black," the boy's lawyer said

A 10-year-old boy was arrested for publicly urinating next to a car while waiting for his mother, who at the time was in a courthouse that had a sign indicating there were no public restrooms.

Quantavious Eason, who is now 11, was put on probation on Tuesday during a hearing in Senatobia, Miss., and ordered to write a book report on Kobe Bryant, WJTV, CNN and FOX 13 Memphis reported.

Carlos Moore, the family lawyer, says race played a role in the arrest of the 3rd-grade student, who is Black, NBC reported.

“He did what any reasonable person would do: he urinated next to the car behind the door — not exposing himself to anyone,” Moore said, according to the outlet. “He would not have been arrested, prosecuted or sentenced if he was any other color, race, besides Black.”

The court handed down the decision that requires Eason to check in with an officer once every month for the three month duration of the probation, NBC reported.

In the August incident, the officer who spotted Eason urinating initially let him go and his mother, LaTonya Eason, disciplined him, she told CNN.

That soon changed when four other officers appeared at the scene, arrested her son and took him to the police station in a police car, the outlet reported.

LaTonya has since said while she is unsure if race played a role in the situation, her son has been treated unfairly, according to NBC.

“My son is going through enough getting arrested and then for him having to see a probation officer and then write an essay, I don’t think it’s right or it’s fair,” she said.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Moore said they will not appeal the decision and Quantavious will be spared a criminal record, according to the outlet, but he thinks the principle of it is concerning.

“And he is a fan of Kobe Bryant, so he doesn’t mind writing the two-page report,” Moore said. “But, still, the principle of it — he should not have to do anything. He should be enjoying his Christmas holiday like the other kids.”

In August, the Senatobia Police Department said in a statement that the officers involved “violated our written policy and went against our prior training on how to deal with these situations.”

Following an internal complaint and investigation, one of the officers is no longer with the department and the others were “disciplined,” the statement said. 

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.