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L.I. Parents Charged After Teen Girl Is Hospitalized From Alcohol Use At Party

SOUND BEACH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island couple thought it would just be a few teenagers hanging out at their house recently, but they ended up in trouble with the law.

CBS2's Jennifer McLogan talked with the couple in Sound Beach, in Suffolk County.

"Very upset about the situation -- very upset," said Farnelle Marseille.

Marseille and her husband, Charles Suomi, were stunned to be arrested after hosting a house party where a teenage girl was taken to the hospital after drinking too much this past Saturday night.

"My kids told me they were going to have some of their friends over," Suomi said. "I didn't realize it was – it got out of hand," Suomi said. "It is hard to try to keep that many people – you know, like your eye on everything."

The parents said their children initially invited 30 friends from Miller Place High School. The tweets and Facebook alerts spread, and soon, police said they got a call that 100 drunken teens were milling around the parking lot of the convenience store across the street.

"My main focus was the store -- that was it," said the convenience store manager. "I wasn't allowing kids in the store."

Marseille said she and Suomi were blamed unfairly.

"I'm just so angry about the situation because they portrayed us like it's our fault that this happened," she said. "The kids already were drinking before they even got here. We were getting rid of them when they were drinking, by the time the cops got here."

The Social Host Law makes adults legally responsible for knowingly allowing illegal underage drinking.

In the past, parents in Great Neck were charged when three teens fell unconscious because of severe intoxication.

"All these kids came from all over. We don't know them. We don't know who they are, and they show up, and I called ambulances because there were kids falling down outside, and I did the right thing. I got in touch with their parents. This is unbelievable. I have nothing else to say," Did Hutt said after the August 2016 incident.

Back in 2011, police said after teens who were drinking stumbled away from a Dix Hills home, a 16-year-old was killed crossing the parkway. The parents were charged.

Suomi was asked if he would ever host such a party again.

"Definitely not, definitely not," he said. Of the girl who got sick, he added, "I'm very sorry for that. I mean, I'm glad she's all right."

Marseille and Suomi were issued field appearance tickets and will be arraigned in district court at a later date. They face a fine of up to $500.

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