Attorney: 10-year-old’s texts did not threaten school
The attorney for a Cape Coral 10-year-old charged last Saturday with making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting said the boy did not make a school threat nor did he threaten any act of violence.
The boy, a fifth grader at Patriot Elementary School, shared a pair of pictures, one containing guns, with a friend. He later referenced an upcoming school event however the texts were not related, Attorney Douglas Molloy, who is representing the child, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The Breeze is not identifying the boy due to his age and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office classification of the texts as a “false threat.”
“I am not faulting law enforcement for the investigation of the texts,” Molloy said. “However the texts were a stock photo of money, and a stock photo of automatic weapons, and it’s our position that it was some kind of joke. Of course, it is a mistake at this time to make reference to automatic weapons but this is a 10-year-old making a 10-year old’s mistake. It is our position there was never a threat to the school.”
According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the first text was a google image of money with “I scammed this” followed by a google image of four rifles and “I bought this.”
The image texts were “a very unfortunate attempt at humor” but were not related to what was a second topic, a water day event at his school, Molloy said.
“It wasn’t immediate or tied to the reference to automatic weapons,” he said of the school-event text. “He then was talking about being excited for the celebration at his school. They don’t tie together but unfortunately they are in the same string of texts, so I don’t fault law enforcement for investigating this.”
The texts came to the attention of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office after the father of the child who received the texts saw them.
The LCSO, which has a zero tolerance policy as part of its “Fake Threat, Real Consequences” initiative, investigated and subsequently made the arrest. The agency then posted to its Facebook page a video of the handcuffed boy being walked to a squad car in front of a Sheriff’s station with comments from Lee County Sheriff Marceno.
The post reads:
“5th Grade Student Arrested for Written Threat
“This student’s behavior is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” stated Sheriff Carmine Marceno. “Making sure our children are safe is paramount. We will have law and order in our schools! My team didn’t hesitate one second…NOT ONE SECOND, to investigate this threat.”
“On Saturday, May 28, 2022, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office learned of a threatening text message sent by a fifth grade student at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral.
“The School Threat Enforcement Team was immediately notified and began analytical research. Due to the nature of the incident, the Youth Services Criminal Investigations Division assumed the case.
“Detectives interviewed the suspect (child’s name) and developed probable cause for his arrest.
“(Child’s name) was charged with Making a Written Threat to Conduct a Mass Shooting.
“Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny. This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences,” stated Sheriff Carmine Marceno.”
The post, which went online at 7:32 p.m. on May 28, went viral. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had received 446,000 views, 4,700 shares
and 2,300 comments.
The arrest also garnered massive media attention with news accounts reported both nationally and internationally.
Comments, some directed at the Sheriff’s Office “perp walk” of a 10-year-old, many directed at the boy and his family, have been plentiful — and sometimes harsh.
Asked about the post-arrest aftermath that has followed, Molloy again emphasized he has no issue with the LCSO investigation.
He did answer questions regarding the boy’s background.
The “fifth grader, the 10-year-old is not a troubled student but an honor student, a Boy Scout who comes from a loving family,” he said.
Molloy confirmed that the boy’s father is an Iraqi war veteran who served as an infantryman during his deployment. Following an honorable discharge in 2018, the father moved to Cape Coral. He holds a professional position.
“He’s a very committed and loving father,” who is raising two boys, Molloy said.
The child remained in a juvenile detention center as of Wednesday. Molloy and the boy’s family are working to get him released. In addition to working to get the court order that remanded him to custody revisited, the process involves working with the State Attorney’s Office and the Department of Children and Family Services.
Typically these types of cases are treated with concern for the child, Molloy said, adding the State Attorney’s Office and DCF are comprised of dedicated individuals.
“All I can say is they’ve (past cases) been treated very fairly and reasonably because they do it very well,” he said.
He answered a final question — why he thought the story has generated the attention that it has.
“Because he’s 10,” Molloy said. “The cancer we have of these mass shootings that are unique to our country has collateral damage. I’m not saying these things should not be investigated but (the boy) has become collateral damage and I’m hoping we can work with the State Attorney’s Office so we can change that, so he is not looked at differently by his teachers, by his Scout masters, by his fellow students. This is a good kid. It is a mistake and he’s already paid a pretty difficult price and we will work toward a a resolution that will let him work to be the person he was, not less than he was, a few days ago.”
To reach VALARIE HARRING, please email news@breezenewspapers.com