Are you in trouble if I don't say you are?

A philosophical point brought up by Teddy yesterday. The neighbor kids were over yesterday and with 5 kids under the age of 8 running around literally, you count the seconds until someone starts crying. We lasted 32.
I'm inside..hell it's cold, these kids can handle it but I'm staying in. I hear Tessi crying, nothing unusual, it's how she gets an extra 5 seconds of attention these days, only difference is that she' not running inside to scream about her war wounds. So, I trot outside. Teddy and Lachlan are slowly trying to slide past me with their heads down as Tessi sits in the wagon sobbing and Connor and Caitlyn try to race up the hill to get away. So I tell Teddy to confess, the boys looked shocked that I figured out it was them (yeah, I'm a genius) and Lachlan says, "I was throwing the food (fake , plastic food) and it accidentally hit Tessi" Fari enough, that was honest. I pick up Tessi, no cuts, no blood. Ter her she's fine and I go back in.

Go to the back of the house and Lachlan has come to the back yard and is pouting. I try to figure out what's wrong but he won't talk and I'm cold so back in I go. A few more minutes later more crying. Tessi again. Only this time she's trying to come in but Teddy is chasing her and trying to hit her with a rope. I give him Hell, not that much even and back in I go. 5 minutes this time. Now it's Connor. Same thing, hit with food, by accident, only this time it's Teddy. I tell Connor she's fine and go in.

Now 5 more minutes pass, only this time I hear, Lachlan saying, "I'm going in to dob on you!" I've been here long enough to know that means he's telling on someone. In he comes and he tells me that Caitlyn is standing on Connor. Teddy has Lachlan's back and races in to confirm the horror. So out I go, ask Caitlyn what she's doing, tell her not to do it again and tell Connor to get off the ground.

Apparently this wasn't enough. A few minutes later the kids had to go home and Teddy comes in crying because he got in trouble the WHOLE time and Caitlyn didn't at all. Apparently when Lachlan was pouting it was because he was in TROUBLE. I never said he was in trouble, I thought the whole thing was an accident Now I did yell at Teddy for chasing a sobbing Tessi but all I said was, "Use your head!" I never said the boys were in trouble, I didn't take anything away from them, nothing. I told Teddy he put himself into trouble and that was not on me.

So at what point are you in trouble? Is the first statement, "What the Hell are you doing?" Is it having to explain your actions? Is it having a consequence bestowed upon you? Stupid me, I though it came when I said, "Man, you are in soooooooo much trouble now" But that's just me.