HENRICO COUNTY, Va – An 11-year-old boy in Henrico County has been transported from Virginia to Florida to face charges after he was accused of making swatting calls and school threats.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said the child made more than 20 threats to several schools in his jurisdiction back in May. Staly said the boy placed the calls to multiple emergency call centers, claiming that he put bombs in the schools and would commit a mass shooting.
"Obviously, as these continued, there was a lot of fear in the community, and many parents were keeping their children at home instead of sending them to school for the last seven to 10 days of school, caused massive lockdowns at every school every time this happened," Staly said.
He said investigators tracked the calls to the juvenile's home in Henrico County. After a 10-week investigation, the sheriff's office filed dozens of charges against him including 28 felonies.
Electronics that were seized from the child's home also contained what Staly described as "cruel and disgusting" videos of animal cruelty.
“Quite frankly, he was escalating his criminal behavior into a very violent tendency," Staly said.
Authorities have since extradited the 11-year-old down to Florida where he's currently being held in a detention center as legal proceedings continue.
Staly said a judge in Florida ordered a nationwide pickup for the child under the juvenile interstate compact.
“This is the first time in my career that we have extradited somebody back this young that has not been charged as an adult," he said.
CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone called it a highly unusual move to extradite a child of this age.
“Normally in a situation like this, you might see things play out first in his home state, rather than extradite him somewhere, because that is a pretty extreme measure for an 11-year-old," Stone said.
In a quote to the Daytona Beach News-Journal addressing concerns about the extradition, Staly said, if the child's parent and "authorities in Virginia were doing their job, we might not be here today, but they didn’t."
Asked what he meant by that comment, Staly said he was grateful for Henrico Police's assistance in his office's investigation but added they had prior knowledge of the child before he was charged with making swatting calls.
“They were aware of him and knew him, which indicates that they had had other interactions with him. I don't know what those were. I know that another state contacted him before my detectives arrived up there on one of their swatting calls, and basically told him just to knock it off. If you're going to allow him to get away with that, they're going to continue to escalate," Staly said.
Henrico Police spokesperson Karina Bolster confirmed officers responded to the child's home three times in November and December of last year for "suspicious situations" but did not elaborate on the details or what actions they took.
"Since these initial calls for service, detectives have continued to investigate the cases and consult with the Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office," Bolster said.
Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor said police did not notify her office of those three incidents at the time.
When it comes to which information police decide to share with her office, she said law enforcement will make its own assessment as to whether the behavior in question rises to delinquent conduct.
Taylor said police always consult with her office on felony offenses and sometimes misdemeanors.
Had police notified her of the three calls for service in November and December 2023, Taylor said, "perhaps, we could've had a different response."
Regardless, she said she disagreed with Sheriff Staly's characterization, considering the facts of the case.
She said her office will look to ensure the disposition of the child's charges in Florida addresses the behavior that prompted the prior police responses in Henrico.
“I think what Henrico is doing is very reasonable under the circumstances, because you don't need to punish an 11-year-old severely in multiple jurisdictions for the same conduct," Stone said. "The focus of [the juvenile court system] is to rehabilitate and to get services for these young folks who need services. It also recognizes that the juvenile brain has not developed enough to make adult decisions for the most part. So that's why, normally, those cases would be handled locally and in a situation where they get services."
It's possible the child could serve out his sentencing in Virginia, Staly said.
Based on his analysis of the evidence collected by his office, Staly said the child is in need of "strong handling by the courts" to include significant counseling and possibly in-custody treatment.
He said he's a 'law and order sheriff,' and his job is to hold individuals accountable for crimes committed despite their age.
“It might be aggressive in Virginia. It's not aggressive in Florida," Staly said. "If you commit a crime in this county, we're going to investigate it, and we're going to do everything we can to bring you to face the consequences of your actions."
CBS 6 reached out to the Florida prosecutor handling the case and did not hear back.
The public defender's office representing the juvenile said it could not comment.
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