Christian Stanfield: Bullied Boy Sent To Court Over Illegal Wiretapping Speaks Out

Christian Stanfield has revealed himself to be the 15-year-old bullied boy who was charged with illegal wiretapping by police. The family is speaking out, saying this case should be used as an example against bullying.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, Stanfield’s mother, Shea Love, was able to transcribe how the bullies were tormenting her son during a special education math class:

“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!'”

The bullies in this case were never punished.

Because of these events that took place on February 11, 2014, Christian was convicted of disorderly conduct for recording bullies in his classroom. He has served Saturday detention at South Fayette High School in Pennsylvania, and he was also required to stand before a judge due to the charges. It’s claimed that as the accused Stanfield never entered a plea, but District Judge Maureen McGraw-Desmet found him guilty and handed down a fine.

During the hearing, Lt. Robert Kurta testified that he changed his mind on whether to recommend charges of felony wiretapping, but still felt the charges of disorderly conduct were necessary:

“I made the decision to file a citation, summary citation, locally to be heard by our magistrate because I believe that he (Stanfield) committed a crime and that there should be some — he should in some way answer for it.”

As previously reported, the boy suffers from multiple issues, but Stanfield say that ever since the bullying began he’s lost 15 pounds and the increased level of stress requires him to take anxiety medication. The good news is that a great load was just taken off his shoulders since the charges have officially been dropped.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for District Attorney Stephen Zappala, said Judge Robert Gallo signed an order Thursday to withdraw the citation against Christian Stanfield:

“No one in our office who is authorized to give advice on wiretap issues or school conduct issues was ever contacted in this matter. We have made multiple attempts to contact the officer who wrote the citation and (the) results have been unsuccessful. We do not believe this behavior rises to the level of a citation.”

Stanfield also explained why he made the iPad recording in the first place:

“I feel like they wouldn’t have understood it unless they have some kind of evidence, some way to understand what I was going through.”

Christian’s mother, Shea Love, supported him in standing up against the legal system for the charges they’ve handed down. She says he took the “most responsible route possible for a student who felt he had no power and no voice in order to change the negative environment that he was forced to be in every day.” She desires to “change the culture of violence in our schools” and, as such, Christian’s actions should have never been considered criminal. Instead, she believes her son may encourage “a profound cultural step in the right direction for kids who don’t feel they are being heard.” She applauds his courage for allowing himself to become a whistleblower in order to instigate the need for change in Pennsylvania’s law. Love claims the real problem is the school’s zero tolerance to electronics use because it encourages bullies and the “dangerous situation” we have in school’s today. Making reference to deadly school shootings, she says, “Some of our children are choosing anger and deadly outbursts in order to be heard.”

In general, most people say that it is wrong for the legal system to have charged a bullied boy with illegal wiretapping. As such, some people were trying to raise awareness of the issue and have created a a Change.org petition supporting Christian Stanfield and Ms. Love. But while charges were dropped the law in Pennsylvania remains the same.

What changes to the law do you think should be made in order to protect children from bullies? Do you think kids or parents should be allowed to hide secret recording devices on their children before they are sent to school?