Teen convicted for recording bullies

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   he is white (for the white don't care)

Teen convicted of disorderly conduct for using iPad to record bullies tormenting him

                    By Scott Kaufman
Monday, April 14, 2014 8:14 EDT

                    62

A Pennsylvania mother whose learning-disabled son was convicted
 of disorderly conduct for recording his bullies while they tormented 
him demanded the judge reverse decision and the school district 
apologize.
Shea Love wondered why the school district contacted the police to 
discuss a violation of wiretap statutes instead of confronting the 
students who were bullying her son, a sophomore at South Fayette High 
School with attention deficit and an anxiety disorder.
“The whole thing has been a horrible nightmare,” Love told the Tribune-Review. “This whole ordeal has made my son miserable.”
On the recording — which the 15-year-old made on his iPad — 
one student can be heard telling another to pull Love’s son’s pants 
down. The teacher can be heard intervening, telling the students that 
they need to stop talking if their discussion isn’t about math.
A few minutes later, a loud slam can be heard, followed by the 
teacher telling students to sit down. “What? I was just trying to scare 
him,” one of the boys can be heard saying.
The 15-year-old said he made the recording “because I always felt like it wasn’t me being heard.”
“I wanted some help,” he continued. “This wasn’t just a one-time thing. This always happens every day in that class.”
Upon learning of the recording, South Fayette High School principal 
Scott Milburn and assistant principal Aaron Skrbin contacted Lieutenant 
Robert Kurta, asking that he come to the school because he believed 
there had been “a wiretapping incident.”
School district officials forced the student to erase the recording 
and ordered him to attend Saturday detention. Kurta charged him with 
disorderly conduct, but didn’t believe that the incident warranted a 
felony wiretapping charge, though according to court records, he was 
adamant the student had “committed a crime.”
South Fayette District Judge Maureen McGraw-Desmet found the student guilty, fined him $25 and ordered him to pay court costs.
The Tribune-Review attempted to contact both principal 
Milburn and assistant principal Skrbin to inquire as to the fate of the 
bullies heard in the recording, but they have not returned any phone 
calls.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/14/teen-convicted-of-disorderly-conduct-for-using-ipad-to-record-bullies-tormenting-him/#.U0vekJTjezQ