Another child was arrested, cited and videotaped “walked” by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday – this child for threatening to shoot up Silver Sands Middle School in Port Orange during class.
The 11-year-old boy is the 10th child to be “exposed” on social media for making a school threat since September 16, when Sheriff Mike Chitwood implemented a “name and shame” policy to curb such behavior. Het Nieuwsblad does not mention the boy because of his age.
Boyfriend arrested
The 27-year-old boyfriend of the boy’s mother was also arrested. Daytona Beach police charged the man with obstructing an officer without violence. The boy had also threatened to kill himself, the sheriff’s office said.
Tuesday evening, Daytona Beach police were called to the child’s home. The mother allowed officers into the home to talk to the boy who was sleeping on the couch.
Upon arrival, deputies were met by a Port Orange officer and a Volusia County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant, who told them that the child had “made verbal threats to shoot up the school and commit suicide while in class on Silver Sands Middle School.” The Port Orange officer was there to evaluate the boy “based on Baker Act criteria” and find out why he made the statement contained in a charging affidavit.
The Baker Act is a law in Florida that allows mentally ill people to be committed to a mental health facility against their will for 72 hours, usually if there is a risk that they will hurt themselves or others.
As police approached the bank, the mother’s boyfriend came between the officers and the boy and told officers he would not let them go further into the house, an arrest report said. The police and the boy’s mother asked him several times to step aside, but he refused
He was charged with obstructing a police officer and later released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on his own recognizance.
‘Walking alone will not solve this’
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said on social media Thursday that he believes publicly shaming the students alone will not stop the threats and called on officials for help.
“I agree that walking the perp alone is not going to solve this,” Chitwood said in a Facebook post. “I think Florida should fine the parents, and judges should cut off the children’s access to social media.”
Chitwood’s post on Thursday follows a social media post he made on Wednesday, in which he claimed his message of publicly identifying the youth was working.
“We cannot become complacent, but I want to share good news as well as the bad. Our message seems to be getting through,” said Chitwood. “Hopefully this trend will continue, even though we just arrested another student today. Parents, thank you for making this point clear to your children. Please stand by it.”
In his post, Chitwood noted that school threats had decreased by 79% over the past two weeks – from 188 to 40 – with eight arrests between September 15 and 22, and one arrest between September 23 and 30. Then came the arrest of the Daytona Beach boy on October 1.
Mother arrested for child neglect
An investigation shows the friend has been arrested multiple times since 2018 for crimes ranging from resisting an officer to domestic violence and failing to appear in court.
The child’s mother also has multiple arrests dating back to 2017 for offenses including driving with a revoked license, battery, child neglect and drunken driving and causing property damage.
Court records show the mother was placed on probation for child neglect on Feb. 15.
This article originally appeared in The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida sheriff wants parents of children who make school threats to be fined
