By James Massara
Crawford County Prosecutor Matt Crall has released information pertaining to the current legal statuses of juveniles involved in bomb threats at various local schools.
Crall said all the students receiving charges will be charged as juveniles. He said the process of deciding if a person under the age of 18 is able to charged, as an adult is complicated.
He said it is much easier to charge an individual older than 16 years old, due to the level of competency. He said the system is based a great deal on specific facts.
“It’s very fact based and a case-by-case basis,” Crall said. “Two individuals of the same age and same charges could receive two separate results.”
Crall said four individuals have been identified as a result of investigations involving threats at Bucyrus, Crestline and Galion schools.
A 12-year-old male from Crestline and 14-year-old male from Bucyrus, both have been charged with second-degree felonies for inducing panic.
Meanwhile, a nine-year-old male from Galion will not be charged and an 11-year-old female still is under investigation.
Crall said the male from Galion will not be charged due to the believed competency of the student. He said there typically are troubles of evaluating the competency of students under the age of 10, while investigating if the student truly understood what he or she was doing.
Crall said he knows there are community members who wonder why the students are not charged with crimes such as threatening an act of terrorism. He said, under Ohio law, terrorism is typically defined as violence threatened as an act of coercion of a government.
Also, Crall said, that a terrorism threat would be charged as a third-degree felony, while an inducing panic charge is a second-degree felony.
He said students don’t seem to be trying to gain anything by the threats with the exception of a day out of school.
“I don’t believe they are looking at the bigger picture,” Crall said. “But, schools are taking the threats seriously, and I will never fault them for that. I believe the schools and law enforcement are working tirelessly and doing a great job.”
Crall said juveniles receive similar court proceedings as adults. The proceedings include an initial appearance, pretrial meetings, a plea hearing and a sentencing hearing if the individual is found guilty.
He added that he hopes to dispel the belief that juvenile records are wiped away permanently once the individual turns 18.
He said having a juvenile felony still could affect an individual’s career or college opportunities and other future situations.
“There are times I wish we could hold juveniles more accountable,” Crall said. “So, I understand that feeling because at times I have it too.”
He said he wants the students to understand the seriousness of their actions.
His complete press release may be found below.
