LAKE COUNTY, Ill. — The father of the man accused in the Highland Park Fourth of July parade shooter has now also been charged.

Charges were filed Thursday and announced Friday

Robert Crimo Jr. has been charged with seven counts of felony reckless conduct the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Friday.

Prosecutors and Highland Park police officers allege that Robert Crimo Jr. was criminally reckless at the time that he helped his son procure a FOID card for his son Robert Crimo III.

Prosecutors also allege by helping his son obtain a FOID card, Robert Crimo Jr  was a contributing cause to the bodily harm suffered by the homicide victims in the mass shooting that occurred on July 4, 2022.

Denis Pesina, left, of Robert Crimo, parents of Robert E. Crimo III, leave after their son’s second hearing in Lake County court Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, in Waukegan, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool)

Robert Crimo III was 19 at the time the FOID card was obtained and because he was under 21, he was unable to obtain a FOID card without his father’s participation in the application process, the state’s attorney said.

 “Parents and guardians are in the best position to decide whether their teenager should have a weapon. They are the first line of defense,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said at a news conference Friday. “In this case, that system failed when Robert Crimo Jr. sponsored his son. He knew what he knew, and he signed the form anyway.  This was criminally reckless and a contributing cause to the bodily harm suffered by the victims on July 4th.”

A statement from Robert Crimo Jr’s lawyer said in part, “We firmly believe these charges are baseless and unprecedented. … These charges are absurd and we will fight them every step of the way.”

Robert Crimo III, 21, was charged earlier this year and faces 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each of the deceased victims, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.

He’s accused of opening fire with an assault-style rifle from a rooftop, killing Nicolas Toledo, 78, Jacki Sundheim, 63, Katherine Goldstein, 64, Irina McCarthy, 35, and Kevin McCarthy, 37, Stephen Straus, 88, and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69.

Robert Crimo Jr. is due in bond court Saturday.