Posted on 04/17/2007 2:15:29 PM PDT by bamahead
A fifteen-year old boy in America was incarcerated for twelve days, wrongly accused of making a hoax bomb threat - because his school had forgotten that the clocks had gone forward.
Cody Webb was arrested last month, after Hempfield Area High School received a bomb threat on their student hotline – which provides a range of information to students about the school - at 3.17am on March 11th. They believed they'd found the culprit when they traced the phone number they thought was responsible to Webb.
Unfortunately, they forgot that the clocks had switched to Daylight Saving Time that morning. Webb, who's never even had a detention in his life, had actually made his call an hour earlier.
Despite the fact that the recording of the call featured a voice that sounded nothing like Webb's, the police arrested Webb and he spent 12 days in a juvenile detention facility before the school eventually realised their mistake.
Webb gave an insight into the school's impressive investigative techniques, saying that he was ushered in to see the principal, Kathy Charlton. She asked him what his phone number was, and , according to Webb, when he replied 'she started waving her hands in the air and saying “we got him, we got him.”'
'They just started flipping out, saying I made a bomb threat to the school,' he told local television station KDKA. After he protested his innocence, Webb says that the principal said: 'Well, why should we believe you? You're a criminal. Criminals lie all the time.'
All charges against Webb have now been dropped.
This school's staff gets my 'Idiot Educators of the Year Award'!!!! And I think the kid has a pretty good case to go after 'em.
The principal should be relieved of her position and her pension. Someone that stupid should not be supervising impressionable children.
Government schools are idiotic and evil.
Perhaps Mr. Webb needs to hire an attorney. Winning a lawsuit may convince the voters to replace the superintendent who will fire the principal for being an incompetent (and nasty) boob.
'They just started flipping out, saying I made a bomb threat to the school,' he told local television station KDKA. After he protested his innocence, Webb says that the principal said: 'Well, why should we believe you? You're a criminal. Criminals lie all the time.'
All charges against Webb have now been dropped.
Where's the rest of he story...thepart about the part about principal Kathy "sherlock Holmes" Charlton being fired and publically ridiculed for her stupidity?
If I were the boys Father, I believe I’d chalk this one up as a lawsuit under the heading of “non-frivolous”. The school needs a dose of it’s own “no tolerance” medicine.
Did the kid make the call? or not? What difference does it make what time it was?
Wow, this idiot principal deserves a ping to the not-a-ping list. That kid is gonna make a lot of money off this.
I agree..if he made the call an hour earlier, why does that matter?? I’m afraid I’m not seeing why he’s innocent..
He made a legitimate call, an hour before another call which was the bomb threat...on the night of the March 11th DST change.
In investigating, the school forgot the DST change ever happened, and charged the kid, because they had his number on record from an hour earlier, which was now an hour later.
Still confused?
See post 13
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Sigh....The time moved up one hour so when they searched the call logs they found his telephone number with the bomb callers time next to it.
They should have searched for a call an hour earlier.
Sounds like somebody’s lawyer is about to get a new boat...
He spent 12 days in jail due to the idiocy of the principal. The principle not only gloated about it, but tried to pressure the kid into a confession. She should spend a little time in jail herself.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/westmoreland/s_501066.html
I thought the same thing until I realized the quoted article in the original post was poorly written. What it left out is the supposed fact that Mr. Webb did call the school an hour earlier after chatting with his girlfriend to see what the hotline would say about delays the following day. He was disconnected after the recording said there were no delays. An hour later, someone else called with a blocked number and made the threat. Mr. Webb’s cell phone records back up his claim.
Here are my questions... What the heck is a 12 y.o. doing on his cell phone talking to a girlfriend at 2 AM??? Hello? Parents????
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