Guilty pleas entered for school threat

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BUREAU — Two Bureau teens have pleaded guilty to placing a bomb threat note at the Leepertown Grade School in Bureau.

The two boys entered their guilty pleas to the Class 3 felony of disorderly conduct on Thursday morning in Bureau County Court. Both boys, ages 16 and 14, were placed on 18 months probation, ordered to do 75 hours of community service, and ordered to write letters of apology to the school. The boys were also sentenced to 30 days in the LaSalle County Detention Home, with credit given each boy for 25 days already served. The teens were also ordered to have no contact with each other and to submit to random drug and alcohol testing.

The 16-year-old was also ordered to pay $502 in restitution for a separate charge of criminal damage to property, not dealing with the Leepertown school threat. The criminal damage to property charge was dismissed.

In their guilty pleas, the teens admitted to writing the threat and placing it on a school door as a way to get the 14 year old out of school for the day. The 16 year old is homeschooled.

The Bureau County Sheriff’s Department was notified about 8:15 a.m. May 12 by Leepertown staff about the bomb threat. Superintendent Amber Harper had already evacuated students from the building to an off-site location. Parents dropping off their students at the school were told school was canceled for the day. The juveniles were taken into custody late that afternoon.

The printed threat left by the teens read “To day everyone dies at school. Boom Boom. 1:00 o’clock good bye.”

Presiding at the Thursday’s hearing for the 16 year old was Circuit Judge Marc Bernabei. Presiding at the 14 year old’s hearing was Associate Circuit Judge Cornelius J. Hollerich.

In his remarks to the 16 year old, Bernabei said he was confident the youth did not intend to carry out any threat to the school, but that the teen needed to realize the seriousness of the consequences of the threat.

Hollerich, in addressing the 14 year old, also acknowledged the boy probably did not realize the seriousness of the threat. However, the threat was a very foolish thing to do, the judge said. Emergency personnel had to respond to a false emergency, and students lost their chance to attend school and learn that day.

Presenting the merits of the state’s case against the teens was First Assistant State’s Attorney Geno Caffarini.

The 16 year old was represented in court by LaSalle attorney Steve Terrando. The 14 year old was represented by assistant public defender Stephen Gunning.

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