HOMER, N.Y. — The owner of a local farm has been charged with more than a dozen labor violations following a year-long investigation into the death of a 14-year-old who was killed in a farming accident, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced today.
Luke Park, owner of the Park Family Farm in Homer, has been charged in connection with the death of 14-year-old Alex Smith, who died in July of 2015 while working on Park's farm.
On July 1, the boy died while operating a New Holland LS170 Skidloader with a hydraulic lift and fork attachment, according to a felony complaint filed by the state attorney general’s office. Child law prohibits minors from using such equipment.
Smith was using the Skidloader to attempt to prepare bales of hay for cow feed on the farm at 3036 East River Road in Homer, the AG's office said.
Park admitted to state police that he found the boy’s body pinned underneath the hydraulic lift and bale of hay while the machine’s engine was still running. An autopsy found the boy’s chest and abdomen were crushed by the machine, resulting in his death by mechanical asphyxiation.
“Child labor laws were enacted to protect the safety of our children and to avoid terrible yet foreseeable tragedies like the one alleged in this case,” New York State Attorney General Schneiderman said in a press release. “Adults have a responsibility to protect our children, and when an employer places a minor in harm’s way, that employer will be held responsible and prosecuted.”
The felony complaint also alleges that Park employed other minors on his dairy farm and required them to work approximately 60 hours a week, exceeding the 48-hour per week maximum for 16 and 17 year olds when school is not in session. Records also revealed that many employees were allegedly paid off-the-books, resulting in an underpayment in unemployment insurance contributions amounting to over $9,000, the state attorney general’s office said.
Park was arraigned today before Judge William J. Foley in Homer Town Court on 8 felony counts of falsifying business records and filing false unemployment insurance contribution returns with the state. He was also charged with 7 misdemeanor counts including endangering the welfare of a child, illegal hours of work for minors, prohibited employment of minors, and the willful failure to pay unemployment insurance contributions.
He was released on his own recognizance. His next court date is scheduled for August 16 in Homer.
