Bava Kamma 112: Merciful Halakhah

When a thief steals food and feeds it to his children... they don't have to pay back. If he leaves it to the children, and they haven't eaten it yet, the question of how much they have to pay, or return, is subject to a dispute. Also, the case with an urgency to be resolved, which provides exceptions for who pays what back to whom, with apparent compassion for the one(s) who has to pay back.