Disabled Boy Records Bullies Tormenting Him, Police Charge Him With Illegal Wiretapping

After a disabled special education child tried to record how bullies were tormenting him at school, the police in Pennslyvania responded by slapping him with the charge of felony wiretapping.

[UPDATE] The name of the teen has been revealed as Christian Stanfield. It’s said his physical condition has suffered from the stress and the bullying. Read the other article for the full story.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, some parents are angry over one school’s anti-bullying policy, claiming it specifically endorses a homosexual agenda. But when one bus driver was caught on video bullying a crying child, the resulting outcry had everyone angry.

Back in 2012, the Huffington Post documented the new trend of parents having their disabled children wiretapped based upon abuse from teachers and bullying students alike. Although some organizations like the National Autism Association “strongly suggest” using recording devices if they suspect a problem, others like the National Association of Special Education Teachers say that secret recordings are a bad idea based upon legal issues and the privacy rights of other children. In the worst case scenario, the children being bullied might themselves get in trouble under the law. Unfortunately, this is apparently exactly what happened.

The disabled boy in this new incident was not named specifically, but his mother’s name is Shea Love, and she did not demand that her son record what the bullies were allegedly doing to him. The 15-year-old boy was previously diagnosed with a comprehension delay disorder, ADHD, and an anxiety disorder. The boy claims he was constantly being bullied at his school, and in order to prove to his mother that he “wasn’t lying” he decided to use his school-issued iPad to record the bullying:

“I was really having things like books slammed upside my head. I wanted it to stop. I just felt like nothing was being done.”

Unfortunately, the school also deleted the evidence off of the iPad, but Mrs. Love, who is an Air Force morse code operator, transcribed the seven-minute audio. The teacher in the classroom is heard attempting to help the boy with a math problem, and one of the bullies is heard saying, “You should pull his pants down!” Another bully replies, “No, man. Imagine how bad that (c**t) smells! No one wants to smell that (t**t).” The teacher attempts to get the other students to settle down but then a loud sound is heard, which the boy claimed was the sound of a book being slammed down after one bully mimed hitting him in the head with it. As the boys laugh, the teacher yells at them and the guilty bully responds, “What? I was just trying to scare him!”

After Mrs. Love submitted the recorded evidence to the principal of South Fayette High School, the administrators called police, but not before they made the boy delete the recording. Lieutenant Robert Kurta then charged the boy with the crime of felony wiretapping because he made the recording in a place where there was an expectation of privacy. They then attempted to interrogate her “visibly distraught” son.

Although in court the charges were reduced to disorderly conduct, the boy was still found guilty on March 19, 2014. Although Pennsylvania is one of 12 states in America that require the consent of all parties when making a recording, Love’s lawyer argued that the recording served a legitimate purpose:

“We’ve shown that there’s a legitimate purpose for the recording. And there’s no physically offensive or hazardous condition that was created by this recording. I don’t see how a recording of students that are bullying my client could be physically offensive or dangerous to anyone, other than potentially the people that are bullying my client.”

The bullies in this case were never punished, although the boy’s parents plan on appealing the ruling on April 29 when he makes his next court appearance.