Tyell Morton, like many 18 -year olds, wanted to play a prank before graduation. So, the student sneaked into his high school in the middle of the night and placed a blowup sex doll in the stalls of one of the bathrooms. Little did he know, his actions might label him a felon for the rest of his life.
A janitor at Rushville Consolidated High School saw Morton running away from the school on May 31. Also, security cameras watched him go into the building with a hoodie and gloves, carrying a package. When the footage also showed him leaving without the package, that’s when the school called in the bomb squad and K-9 units, fearing that he’d delivered a bomb. Instead of finding a complex device designed to blow them to bits, they instead found a blow up sex doll. As a result of his stunt, the 18-year old might begin adulthood from a prison cell.
Jonathan Turley at George Washington University asked a series of questions about this case, including this one:
“The question is what type of society we are creating when our children have to fear that a prank (could) lead them to jail for almost a decade. What type of citizens are we creating who fear the arbitrary use of criminal charges by their government?”
“We have reviewed this situation numerous times,” Rush County Schools Superintendent John E. Williams told the Indianapolis Star. “When you have an unknown intruder in the building, delivering an unknown package, we come up with the same conclusion. … We cannot be too cautious, in this day and age.”
Morton has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and institutional criminal mischief, with the second charge being a felony that could send him to prison for two to eight years.
“I know there has been plenty of pranks done at that school,” said Morton’s mother, Cammie Morton. “I went to that school. When I heard what they was charging him for, my heart just dropped.”
Joel Schumm, a law Professor at Indiana University – Indianapolis, questions the merit of the charge.
“Their reaction is understandable, but use the school disciplinary process,” he said. “Don’t try to label the kid a felon for the rest of his life.”
The prosecutor in the case, Philip J. Caviness of Rush County, told the AP that he won’t seek the maximum sentence for Morton. But he does stand by the charges.
“I’m pretty comfortable with the charges that we’ve filed,” he said.
There you have it: if you do the wrong thing with a sex doll, then you suddenly become the next Osama bin Laden. God bless America.
A janitor at Rushville Consolidated High School saw Morton running away from the school on May 31. Also, security cameras watched him go into the building with a hoodie and gloves, carrying a package. When the footage also showed him leaving without the package, that’s when the school called in the bomb squad and K-9 units, fearing that he’d delivered a bomb. Instead of finding a complex device designed to blow them to bits, they instead found a blow up sex doll. As a result of his stunt, the 18-year old might begin adulthood from a prison cell.
Jonathan Turley at George Washington University asked a series of questions about this case, including this one:
“The question is what type of society we are creating when our children have to fear that a prank (could) lead them to jail for almost a decade. What type of citizens are we creating who fear the arbitrary use of criminal charges by their government?”
“We have reviewed this situation numerous times,” Rush County Schools Superintendent John E. Williams told the Indianapolis Star. “When you have an unknown intruder in the building, delivering an unknown package, we come up with the same conclusion. … We cannot be too cautious, in this day and age.”
Morton has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and institutional criminal mischief, with the second charge being a felony that could send him to prison for two to eight years.
“I know there has been plenty of pranks done at that school,” said Morton’s mother, Cammie Morton. “I went to that school. When I heard what they was charging him for, my heart just dropped.”
Joel Schumm, a law Professor at Indiana University – Indianapolis, questions the merit of the charge.
“Their reaction is understandable, but use the school disciplinary process,” he said. “Don’t try to label the kid a felon for the rest of his life.”
The prosecutor in the case, Philip J. Caviness of Rush County, told the AP that he won’t seek the maximum sentence for Morton. But he does stand by the charges.
“I’m pretty comfortable with the charges that we’ve filed,” he said.
There you have it: if you do the wrong thing with a sex doll, then you suddenly become the next Osama bin Laden. God bless America.
