From the article: "According to the news outlet, Cade got his e-bike after raising $900 through his summer business selling squirrel tables."
Now he gets to lose work to take the kid to court, pay a fine, towing and impound fees.
I didn't go to the source article, but from this it looks like the dad didn't know. IMHO, to inform them of such is the responsibility of the seller, or should be in all transactions re motor vehicles.
It is possible that the dad didn't know the son was riding illegally. Possible, but not probable.
We've been having the same problem kids riding recklessly on e-bikes, e-motorcycles and gas-driven dirt bikes around these parts. The parents all know their kids are riding illegally and defend the actions as "just kids being kids."
The dad certainly knew his son bought it. The dad knew his son didn't have a driver license to ride it on public roads.
The dad could also see it had no lights, license plate and that it wasn't registered and insured and therefore wasn't street legal.
As they say, whether the dad didn't know it was or wasn't street legal; ignorance of the law is no excuse.
When you buy a car, it's not the responsibility of the seller to explain the rules of the road. Same here