Youth Arrested for Making Online Threats

A Jersey City youth was arrested today after he allegedly threatened two 12-year-old Belleville boys online and by telephone, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.

The 14-year-old boy is facing four charges of making terroristic threats and two counts of harassment. The case will be handled by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.  

The Belleville Police Department, assisted by Jersey City police and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Cyber Crimes Unit, executed a search warrant at the juvenile’s Jersey City home this morning.

He was arrested and later released to the custody of his parents.  

The boy allegedly used false screen names on the social network web site Facebook to threaten one of the victims. When the victim blocked that name, the suspect used a second and then a third screen identity to send threatening messages, the prosecutor’s office said.

The youth allegedly called the victims “gay,” “fat” and “punk”. He also told one victim through a message that he would tie him to a pole, attach a hook to the victim’s stomach and a rope to his car, then drive away and watch as he “tore off his body,” the prosecutor’s office said.

The threats began because the suspect believed his victims were interested in his girlfriend. The incidents occurred between early February and early March, Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, told Patch today.    

“Cyber-bullying is a serious and growing problem. Increasingly, young people are using new technology to commit crimes. The perceived anonymity of cyberspace seems to embolden offenders,’’ said Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Walter J. Dirkin.
 
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office commended Belleville Det. Sgt. Daniel Ward of the Juvenile Bureau, as well as Det. Richard Giordano and Det. Steven Linfante for their “outstanding” work on the case.

If convicted of all charges, the suspect could face up to two years of incarceration, Carter said.