Mother puts recorder in child’s backpack to catch bullies, faces felony charge
A Norfolk, Virginia student’s mother has been charged with a felony after putting a digital recorder in her daughter’s backpack to catch bullying.
“I tried to be fair, but it’s not fair,” said Sarah Sims. “There is nothing fair about this.”
In September she says she had enough of her daughter getting bullied at school and she was not getting any response from the school over the phone or in emails. That is when she took action on her own.
“The thing that bothers me the most is that I am yet to get a response from anyone in the administration,” Sims said.
She was looking to prove that her daughter was being harassed and was hoping the recorder would show what the 4th-grade student was dealing with in the classroom.
“If I’m not getting an answer from you, what am I left to do?” she asked.
The recorder was found in the bag and her 9-year-old was switched to a different classroom and then approximately one month later she was charged with the felony.
“I was mortified,” Sims said. “The next thing I know, I’m a felon. Felony charges and a misdemeanor when I’m trying to look out for my kid. What do you do?”
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The Norfolk school has not commented on the situation saying that it’s a pending investigation but in elementary schools no electronic devices are permitted.
“They aren’t making this about that classroom,” Sims’ attorney Kristin Paulding said. “[These] are charges that carry jail time.”
The charges were felony use of a device to intercept oral communication and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The felony charge could land her five years in prison.
“Instead of comforting her she’s going to a magistrate and being handcuffed,” Paulding said.
The attorney says the two charges are a stretch, she feels that neither will hold up in court.
“We are at the very early stages of this, but even at the early stages I think the community needs to know that this is happening, because any parent out there that is sending their child to school now could be at risk for something that happened to Sarah,” Paulding said.
Sims’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 18, 2018.
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