PARKERSBURG - A third meeting on how to curb violence among area youth took place Wednesday at Parkersburg-Wood County Public Library with public officials in attendance.

Parkersburg Mayor Bob Newell, Wood County Prosecutor Jason Wharton and Parkersburg police Capt. Keith Roberts answered questions from a group of about 10.

Meeting organizer Lisa Taylor was unable to attend the meeting. Taylor started the meetings in response to the September beating of her son, Mark Taylor, 18, who is autistic, by a group claiming to be a gang.

Newell said one part of the problem is from the parents, not the city or other government entities.

"It's all parenting; it has nothing to do with the police," he said. "It's not the fault of the police, the schools or the prosecutor if they are out at 1:30 a.m. Until parents are willing to be parents, there will be problems."

Newell said he was not being critical of the victim, but his question was also directed at the parents of those who allegedly attacked Taylor.

"Not to blame the victim, but there is another side of this story you will never know about people in this," Newell said. "It will come out in a private juvenile hearing."

Newell said the city is not downplaying gang activity but in his experience wanting to be a gang or being in one is a sign of other problems in an individual.

"If a person thinks he or she is a gang or wants to be in a gang they have issues," he said. "The gang issue is anger and dependency."

Newell said it's the job of parents to take charge of their children.

"The police department can't be the parent, Parkersburg High School can't be the parent, we can't afford the taxes it would take," Newell said.

Some of those in attendance said there are laws that keep parents from being as strict as they were at one time.

"I know of a good man who was arrested for disciplining his children," said Raymond Terwilliger of Pennsboro. "It's a societal problem that is hard to fix. We need to discuss it."

Newell said in reading about the case he still had a question as to why Taylor was out at 1:30 a.m.

A man who declined to be identified asked, "Was it right for them to beat him up?"

"People should be able to be out anytime they want and be safe," Terwilliger said. "Parents are helpless to control their children; the system is broken."

Roberts said the police department keeps suspected gangs under surveillance. He said to control gang activity there have been periodic unannounced sweeps with the sheriff's department, the state police and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The department has the Gang Resistance Education and Training that is expanding from the middle schools to the elementary schools, Roberts said. If parents have children in school without the program, police resource officers will be able to help them get the program in the schools, he said.

One problem in dealing with gangs, he said, is gang graffiti or other gang activity may be seen but at times it may be someone mimicking them but they are not part of the gang.

In regard to the Six Gun Nation, which Taylor said attacked her son, Roberts said it is a small group but the department watches the members.

"When a group says they are a gang we treat them as such and we document it," he said. "If they expand beyond here we will share it with the FBI. They want to know what is spreading out across the country."

Wharton said the juvenile probation officers in the county have been doing a good job in meeting with the families of offenders to help them stay clean.

When he began his work as an assistant prosecutor, one of his first assignments in circuit court was in juvenile cases, Wharton said.

"It's a rewarding area in working with them in juvenile court and making a difference in their lives," he said. "Some go through and we never see them again, but today I am prosecuting some who went through the system then."

Newell said some turn 18 "and realize they are at a different level and they calm down."