Posted on 10/21/2010 8:09:47 PM PDT by Sybeck1
Today my 12 year old daughter was in class when a student came in and asked her if she would come into the hall to talk to the police. When she went into the hallway a police officer explained that she needed to go to the principal's office with him and she then asked if she was in trouble. He gave her no reply. He asked her if she wanted to walk by herself so she wouldn't be seen with him and she said, "No, I don't care." When she finally arrived at the principal's office across campus there were four other officers present along with the assistant principal. The assistant principal had a letter written which was threatening to kill a fifth grader who was at another school across town. It said, "I'm going to kill you." Signed "My daughter, 7th Grader." The 5th grader claimed that my daughter was threatening her with notes on the bus.
My daughter does not ride a bus. My wife is a teacher and we live in another city. She rides to school with my wife. My daughter knows the little girl's older sister from church, and to my knowledge the older sister of the accuser is my daughter's friend. She spent the night at our house once.
These police officers proceeded to question her several several minutes. The school never contacted us. The police officer told my daughter to be sure and tell her mother about it.
Then my daughter had to RUN back across campus, all the time crying and knowing that people saw her with a police officer, THE ONE THEY ALL KNOW RUNS THE BULLYING PROGRAM AT THE SCHOOL.
My son is in 8th grade and heard that his sister "was in trouble with the police." My daughter's reputation has been ruined by someone who simply does not like her. This person chose to try to get her in trouble for that reason and that reason only. Isn't that bullying in itself? Can my daughter be questioned without a parent present?
Yes. As a former juvenile delinquint, I was questioned, as a minor, without parent presence. They still must read Miranda rights if an arrest has been affected, however, since most minors won't understand, those rights must be explained in a way that minors would understand.
You do have some recourse, however. Since you imply the letter was forged, you can hire a handwriting expert (not terribly expensive, by the way) to prove the signature is forged. At that point, you can then file charges for false arrest (if an arrest was affected), or filing a false police report (that one might be a joint accusation to both the principal and the 5th grader.)
I would certainly hope the person who forged a note and falsely claimed it was from your daughter was marched through the halls by the same policeman who escorted your daughter. And I hope the parents were called in for that one, because there was genuine wrongdoing going on there. Maybe they can talk sense into that girl before she becomes another Duke lacrosse accuser.
So, you misspent your yute?
#1 If the child is not riding on the bus where it is claimed a note was passed, then the person on the bus would be a liar and the probable video on the school bus should show it.
#2 I think the school has a list of who travels on buses.
If she doesn’t ride the bus, the school employees should have already known or been able to look the information up.
I’d sue the parents of the child who made these claims, especially if she is never on the bus.
I guess the fifth grader wasn’t bright enough to notice that your daughter doesn’t even ride the same bus! That’s a pretty dumb lie. I get the impression that the cops knew this too but had to investigate it ANYHOW because of some dumb regulation, which is why they told your daughter she needn’t even go with them.
I would as soon as possible speak to an attorney regarding this issue. Things might be different in different jurisdictions, but I would want to find out from an attorney if your county/state has laws regarding the necessity for a parent or other adult representative being present when a juvenile is being questioned about a possible criminal act. Yes, juveniles can be questioned by police when that juvenile is not the subject of an investigation. But, in your case the focus of the police was directly upon your daughter, and an adult (parent or other) should have been present before police questioned her. I’d be mighty P!SSED if that were my child.
But I'd go higher myself ~ straight to the question of WHY the authorities didn't think of that themselves and bust the other kid FIRST.
Not to be sarcastic about this but if your kid is not gay, and the other kid is not gay the people behind this bullying program have no interest in either of them. This isn't your game at all.
Well, what if your daughter finds a note in her desk tomorrow that reads: “I heard you were questioned by the police. You must be a very bad person. I am going to kill you” signed Joe Blow (another student at the school). Wouldn’t you want the cops to investigate him?
I believe they can question her as described however, school administration are quite often complete cowards and if you approach this right, you should demand at least a public apology to to from the principle and those involved on the basis they didn’t contact you and caused your daughter mental duress.
If it is an overtly liberal school, accuse them of bullying, sexism, and harming your daughter’s self esteem and you may get some compensation.
I hit it back then, too.
Just the way the note was written would be a stupid way for a person to write a note - signing a name to a murder threat and just to make sure you could be found, saying what grade you were in. Having four officers there for something like that doesn’t make sense to me. The whole thing just seems stupid - like they should have known it was a set-up.
Excuse the wise-@$$ reply, to a real predicament and a really incompetently handled situation that has devastated your poor daughter, but I’m being serious:
What can you do?
HOMESCHOOL
I do not believe that a child can be questioned on a criminal matter without you or a lawyer present. You need a bulldog lawyer who will crawl up that principals ass and start swinging a mace around.
Do things all legal-like. We FReepers are famous for working within the system. You have criminal and civil recourse. Use those. Good luck.
Sue the school. Sue Obama. Sue the Police.
I was, but that was a few decades back. Not sure if things have changed. Further, lawyer presence is only required if a suspect states that desire.
For the life of me, I can’t fathom why you are asking strangers what to do.
Since you did post this thread here is my opinion you can mull over or just pass by.
#
OPINION:
Contact the school principal and STATE to the principal what you want to do which is:
1. See the child who allegedly spread false accusations suspended.
2. Move your child to another school.
3. You will be contacting an attorney to review this incident with him/her. The attorney may/may not be in touch with the school.
4. Contact the police department and speak with an officer regarding your options on filing a report on the child who allegedly lied to the police about your child.
~
Now, why don’t you and your spouse sit down and ask yourselves why you want your children in public school?
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