Accused youth remains in youth center until formal charges are filed

An 11-year-old BCSC student was still being held at the county's youth welfare center Tuesday while Bartholomew County Attorney Lindsey Holden-Kay decides what charges might be filed in the case.

The teenager faces preliminary charges of intimidation and making false statements following a Snapchat post on Friday in which he made a shooting threat against Parkside School on Monday.

She was taken into custody by investigators on Sunday evening and has been in the youth welfare center since then, even after being remanded in custody before the juvenile court.

Although the teen was taken into custody Sunday, the Columbus Police Department, Bartholomew County Sheriff's Department and Indiana State Police worked with Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. security forces to provide security at all BCSC schools Monday, Columbus police said.

Investigators had previously stated that the teenager had no access to weapons before her arrest and that the threat was deemed implausible.

This development was similar to the numerous social media threats directed against school districts across the state and country last week, which led to disruptions in school attendance and the arrest of students.

BCSC said in a statement that the school board works closely with local authorities to thoroughly investigate every report of a threat. In addition to legal consequences, any student who makes a threat faces disciplinary action at the school, up to and including suspension and expulsion, BCSC officials said.

State law allows the media to cover cases involving juveniles accused of crimes that would be considered felonies if committed by an adult. The Republic has informed Holden-Kay that she intends to personally cover court proceedings involving the 11-year-old girl if she is formally charged with a crime.

In 2018, the Republic reported on a series of threats against local schools and juvenile court hearings involving crimes. There were no fewer than seven threats made locally, and they came on the exact anniversary of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people died.

The Republic did not name the juveniles accused of intimidation in those seven cases, but followed each case through the court system or until it was downgraded to a misdemeanor and hearings were no longer public or media coverage was stopped.

In one of the cases, a 14-year-old youth charged with making a social media threat at school was ordered by then-Juvenile Judge Heather Mollo to attend victim impact training sessions, which educate offenders about the impact of crimes on victims and communities, and was sentenced to 90 days of probation. The youth received six months of probation, was required to perform 32 hours of community service, and pay $326 in miscellaneous fees and court costs, as well as a $10-per-month probation fee.

Although the boy's parents called the threats “jokes,” both the mother and father agreed with Mollo that their son had committed an extremely serious crime. They promised Mollo that they would closely supervise their son when he was released from electronic monitoring after the hearing.