MANSFIELD, Ohio – Two juveniles arrested in connection with a rash of bomb threats that spread across Richland County last fall appeared in Richland County Juvenile Court on Tuesday after admitting to their offenses.
Judge Ron Spon ruled a 16-year-old boy as delinquent in charges of aiding or abetting inducing panic, a felony, and falsification, a misdemeanor. The judge also committed an 11-year-old girl to the court’s diversion program for six months to the age of 21 on charges of inducing panic. The juveniles’ identities are withheld for their protection.
The 16-year-old boy admitted to charges of inducing panic and falsification in connection to threatening phone calls that were made to five Plymouth students on Oct. 18, 2015. The incident prompted Superintendent Jim Metcalf to allow students to leave early if they chose to the following Monday, and to close all Plymouth schools the following Tuesday.
According to the 16-year-old, the calls were initially made as a prank between himself and a friend from Cuyahoga County. He was charged as aiding and abetting inducing panic due to providing his friend with phone numbers of classmates to call.
“We were communicating over PlayStation … he brought up prank calls, and I agreed,” said the juvenile.
The juvenile listened over the PlayStation microphone as his friend left voicemails for the students saying, “What do you and Kurt Cobain have in common? If you go to school tomorrow, you’ll both be dead.”
“At the beginning I thought it was funny,” said the juvenile in court, speaking in a low baritone voice. “We were bored and wanted something to laugh at. When the police came to my house I realized it was real.”
Judge Spon noted in court that the students who received the calls told police they did not feel threatened and thought the calls were a prank. The judge noted the series of events began when the students’ parents became aware of the voicemails and posted concerned messages on Facebook.
“Which is understandable in this day and age,” Spon said.
The falsification charge came after the juvenile denied to police any involvement in the calls, and made efforts to mislead or frustrate the investigation.
Due to having no prior record, the 16-year-old was found delinquent and committed to the legal custody of the Ohio Division of Youth Services, but will serve no additional time in custody other than 35 previous days in Richland County’s juvenile detention center. Spon made note of the juvenile’s high grades in school and exceptional behavior while he was detained.
As terms of his intensive probation, Spon ordered the juvenile not communicate any threats of harm to any persons or property and not communicate with his friend who had made the threatening calls. The judge ordered the juvenile’s father to monitor his Facebook activity and to review and monitor his video games, and remove all games with references to killing or harming others.
“I’m concerned about the mindsets created by certain games,” Spon said.
In addition, the juvenile is ordered to write personal apologies to the Plymouth principal and superintendent, and complete 100 hours of volunteer community service. The juvenile is expelled from Plymouth Local Schools, and the district will meet in the future to determine whether he will be permitted to enroll next year.
An 11-year-old girl admitted to a charge of inducing panic related to a threat drawn on the bathroom wall of Malabar Intermediate School on Oct. 21, 2015. Spon noted the girl was the youngest of the juveniles charged in related to bomb threats over the fall.
The message written on the bathroom stall read, “There’s a bomb tick tock tick tock.”
When asked why she would write such a thing, the girl struggled to answer.
“Kids on the bus were talking about the Shelby bomb threat, and that’s what it said,” the girl told Spon. “I knew the school would get evacuated … but it was a really bad idea. I actually like school.”
Spon made note of the girl’s good grades, her talent at playing violin and her aptitude for reading books during the 14 days she served in the juvenile detention center. The girl stated she would like to go to college and become a teacher.
“This decision was not too difficult for me,” Spon said of committing the girl to the court’s diversion program. “I believe serving detention was a unique and powerful experience for her.”
Spon’s decision to place the girl in the court’s diversion program was also motivated by the fact she had no prior record. She will remain in the diversion program anywhere from six months until the age of 21.
As part of her condition to be in the program, Spon ordered the girl not communicate in any way anything that would suggest a threat, apologize via letter and in person to the Malabar Intermediate principal, participate in one positive youth activity on a regular basis, and undergo a mental health assessment. Spon also ordered the girl perform 50 hours of volunteer charity work.
“You hurt the community by what you did,” Spon said. “Now you can repair the harm by giving back.”
If the 11-year-old meets all requirements of her diversion program, her case will be dismissed as if it never happened. She stated in court that she is excited to go back to school after her expulsion ends on Feb. 5.
“Everyone at my school knows I did it, I can’t really talk to anyone,” she said. “I know I would never do this again.”
