The Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s office is preparing paperwork seeking to declare several juveniles as delinquents after they were accused of making threats against local high schools.
Three juveniles, one a current Columbus East High School student and one a former East student, and a student at the Simon Youth Academy in Edinburgh, were each arrested on Level 6 felony intimidation charges by police and taken to the Bartholomew County Youth Services Center either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash said his office is considering requesting the cases be waived to adult court, but any paperwork supporting that won’t be filed until next week. Any request for a waiver to adult court would be considered by the Bartholomew County Juvenile Court Magistrate Heather Mollo.
A Level 6 felony charge in Indiana is punishable by a sentence of six months to two-and-a-half years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Hope Town Marshal Matt Talent said he is preparing paperwork to request that the prosecutor’s office charge a 15-year-old male Hauser High School student with Level 6 felony intimidation. Allegations were made that the 15-year-old threatened to kill another student, school officials said. The prosecutor’s office has not yet received any paperwork in that case, Nash said Friday.
In addition to criminal charges, the students also face possible disciplinary action from their respective schools.
The 15-year-old from Hauser, along with a 16-year-old male Hauser student accused of making a vague threat against the school earlier this month, have been removed from school and placed in the custody of their parents pending any further disciplinary action, Hauser officials said.
Hauser Principal David Wintin explained that in situations involving possible criminal charges, school officials are required to issue a 10-day suspension for the student. During that time, due process for the student calls for notification to the family and the opportunity for the family to request a hearing about any disciplinary action taken by the school, he said.
Wintin said school officials have made it clear that any threat made against the school or students is not a joking matter and school officials will remove students who engage in that behavior and turn them over to law enforcement.
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. officials said any school disciplinary action on the current East student who was arrested by Columbus police could be considered after the due process of the judicial system concludes. The male juvenile was accused of posting a threat on SnapChat suggesting the school would be “shot up” in two days, school officials said. Several students reported the social media posting to East administrators and the student was removed from a classroom and taken to a private area in the school before he was arrested by Columbus police.
School officials will work with the student and parent to determine whether returning to BCSC is possible, said Larry Perkinson, BCSC employee and student assistance coordinator.
BCSC cannot address any school disciplinary issues for the former East student as he is no longer enrolled at the school, Perkinson said.
The former student was accused on Wednesday of sending a photo of himself holding a firearm with a threat to the high school in response to social media postings by East students who were outside after a fire alarm accidentally sounded.
That former student, a male juvenile, had not been expelled from East prior to his leaving the school and there had been no recent disciplinary actions regarding him before he left, Perkinson said. There has been a notable length of time between the time the former student left school and the threat, which occurred Wednesday, he said.
