A 17-year-old former Columbus East student was placed on probation for 90 days during a disposition hearing on a school threat case that began in February.
Bartholomew County Juvenile Court Magistrate Heather Mollo agreed to the terms proposed by the county probation department for the teen during a Wednesday hearing. The teen was given 120 days of secure detention, which was suspended, 90 days probation with the possibility of additional time if needed, and a requirement that he obtain and maintain a job and obtain his high school equivalency degree.
When Mollo asked the teen what he had learned from the experience of going through juvenile court, the teen told her he had learned to think before he typed or did any actions.
Mollo had agreed to cancel a fact-finding hearing in the juvenile’s case in August after the teen, through his attorney Michael DeArmitt, agreed to admit to misdemeanor harassment for sending a social media message to students at the high school Feb. 21 that contained alarming content.
The teen, who was 16 at the time, was initially accused of two felony intimidation charges for sending a SnapChat message after Columbus East students had been evacuated Feb. 21 for an accidental fire drill.
The juvenile was accused of sending a picture of himself holding a weapon during the incident, court records state. The two Level 6 felony intimidation charges were dismissed in exchange for his admission to the misdemeanor, according to the court.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Kay said she supported the probation department’s recommendation, albeit with some reservations. Kay said she was concerned about the length of the probation, saying it seemed “short, given the facts of the case.”
Kay and Mollo acknowledged the teen had been on electronic monitoring with probation since Feb. 28, and that Mollo had declined to release the teen from electronic monitoring in August. However, the electronic monitoring will now cease while the teen serves his probation.
Addressing the teen and his family, Mollo said she did not want him leaving the courtroom minimizing what the court proceedings had been about since February.
Mollo told the teen he needed to take the disposition of the case seriously, and if the juvenile would return to her courtroom for other offenses she would not be as tolerant.
In addition to ruling the teen needed to obtain a job, which the teen said he had done, Mollo told him that he needed to attend McDowell Education Center to obtain his high school equivalency degree.
She also asked if the probation department could work with the teen on an apology to the school corporation or high school for the incident.
Since the teen has a job, Mollo said that he should bear some of the financial responsibility for court costs and probation fees out of his paycheck.
Mollo ordered a status hearing on the teen’s progress for 9:15 a.m. Jan. 9 in juvenile court.
Wednesday’s disposition signifies the conclusion of Bartholomew County juvenile cases heard in public that were filed in February.
In Indiana, juvenile hearings involving charges that would be felonies if prosecuted in adult court are open to the public. Misdemeanor cases for juveniles are not open to the public.
Six school threats were reported in Bartholomew County schools this year, including two at Columbus East, one at Columbus North High School, two at Hauser High School and one at the Simon Youth Academy. All but one occurred within a week of the Feb. 14 school shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people died.
Here is a status update on the other cases.
A Columbus East male student was arrested after students told authorities the juvenile had made a social media threat on SnapChat saying the school would be shot up in two days. The student was initially charged with felony intimidation in juvenile court, a charge that was later reduced to a misdemeanor.
An Edinburgh teenager accused of drawing a sketch depicting a school shooting in his Simon Youth Academy classroom is serving nine months of probation. Mollo ruled the juvenile should receive a 90-day secure detention sentence, which was suspended, nine months on probation, and pay court costs and probation user fees.
Two threats at Hauser High School, one on Feb. 20 and another on Feb. 21, were handled internally by school officials.
In a Columbus North case, a 16-year-old student was taken into custody Aug. 7, the night before school started, accused of making a social media threat that included a photo of what appeared to be a weapon. Detectives confiscated a pellet gun. The 16-year-old is facing a Class A misdemeanor allegation of intimidation in a juvenile delinquency petition filed with Bartholomew County Juvenile Court.
