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Canadian man arrested after daughter kills seagull

August 19, 2016

Signs in Rehoboth Beach warn citizens not to feed wild birds, but new signs may be needed after a 13-year-old lured seagulls with food and then swatted them with a shovel.

The girl’s father, Christian Lesieur, 48, of Quebec, was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child after he allowed his daughter to bait and kill a seagull in the area of Wilmington Avenue Aug. 17.

Police say they received complaints of a girl swinging at seagulls with a shovel. Arriving on the beach, police say the 13-year-old was putting food in a hole to lure seagulls to land and then taking a whack at them with a plastic shovel. Police say the girl had already killed one bird that was found in a nearby trash can where Lesieur had thrown it away.

Witnesses told police that Lesieur laughed when his daughter took a swing at the birds, and when a witness approached Lesieur to tell him that perhaps his daughter shouldn’t be doing her best Bryce Harper imitation with seagulls, he laughed at them, too. Police said Lesieur was drinking alcohol and was detained along with his daughter for further questioning.

Although his daughter became upset and was crying, Lesieur laughed about the incident, police said, and joked about his daughter spending multiple nights in jail, causing her to become more upset.

Lesieur was arrested for misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child and released on $500 unsecured bail to a sober co-signer.

The daughter was not charged by officials from Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control for killing the seagull, but she was told not to do it again, as killing a migratory bird is a violation of federal regulations.

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