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'You Were Way Out of Line': Judge Sentences 14-Year-Old to Detention, Probation and Stern Restrictions

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Mark Rice, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

May 10--A Double Churches Middle School eighth-grader arrested last month for transmitting a false public alarm and two counts of making terroristic threats was sentenced Tuesday to indefinite probation after spending 12 days in the Columbus Youth Detention Center.

On April 24, the 14-year-old boy was arrested at school for threats to blow up the White House and the Columbus Police Department -- threats conveyed on his Myspace.com Web page from his home computer. An Internet user in Utah saw the threat and alerted the FBI, which notified the Secret Service and Columbus police.

On April 26, the boy was arrested again, this time for telling another student in the school office the previous day that he was going to bring guns to school. During his April 28 preliminary hearing, the boy disputed the second charge. On Tuesday, he and his attorney, John Martin, didn't contest the accusations.

In addition to his probation, the boy received a stern lecture from Muscogee County Juvenile Court Judge Aaron Cohn.

"No one -- no one -- has the right to the liberties taken by this young man in regards to the English language and the things he said and thought," Cohn said. He pointed at the boy and added, "You were way out of line."

Cohn ordered:

-- Counseling for the boy and his family, whose names are not published because the boy is a juvenile.

-- No access to Myspace.com

-- All computer use must be monitored by an adult

-- An 8 p.m. curfew, except for school and church activities accompanied by an adult

-- No sleep-overs at another's house

-- No contact with the victims, including the student to whom he made the guns threat.

Cohn will evaluate the boy's progress during his probation before he considers ending it.

The judge could have incarcerated the boy for up to 60 days, but he told the boy he shouldn't think his punishment is lenient.

"You're not getting off light," Cohn said. "You've got a lot of work to do."

The judge said threats must be dealt with seriously, even if they don't result in tragedies, such as the school shootings that were national news the past several years.

"We all know what happened in Jonesboro, Ark., and in Colorado," Cohn said, his voice rising. "We are frightened to death by this thing. I've been here 40 years and I've never had a dead child -- and I don't want one!"

Cohn smacked the bench with his hand and asked, "You understand me?"

The boy nodded his Mohawked head and quietly replied, "Yes, sir."

Contact Mark Rice at (706) 571-8543 or mrice@ledger-enquirer.com [mailto:mrice@ledger-enquirer.com]

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Copyright (c) 2006, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

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