Teen gets probation for Steinbach school bomb threat

A Steinbach teen will avoid jail time after phoning in bomb threats and “causing panic” to Steinbach Regional Secondary School in January.

The 17-year-old pleaded guilty in Steinbach provincial court on Friday to one count of uttering threats against the school. Provincial court Judge Denis Guénette sentenced the teen to two years of supervised probation and to complete counseling programs.

The Carillon can’t identify the youth due to a publication ban.

Guénette said the bomb threats, despite being fake, caused fear for the parents, students and teachers, who expected to be safe at school.

“It’s far too often that we see on the news that schools and children and places of children are being the targets of people who want to cause violence,” he told the court.

On Jan. 14 at 10:30 a.m., the teen, who was 16 at the time, made a 911 call from a Steinbach pay phone that there was a bomb at the Steinbach Regional Secondary School, according to the statement of agreed facts.

Steinbach RCMP and the Steinbach Fire Department both responded to evacuate the 2,000-student school. Earlier that morning, a secretary overheard a student joke about a bomb threat But when the RCMP played the 911 call audio for both the secretary and the principal, they couldn’t identify the voice. An hour and half later after the bomb threat, the mother of the teen reported to the RCMP that her child made the threat. Officers viewed screenshots of messages the teen sent their sister, admitting to making the call and wanting to run away to Winnipeg. Police found and arrested the youth at their grandmother’s home, after she also called police.

During the arrest, the youth immediately admitted and apologized to the officers, saying they didn’t know why they did it.

The teen, who was an SRSS student, was taken into custody and spent two weeks at the Manitoba Youth Centre before being released.

Court heard the teen was diagnosed with ADHD, depression and anxiety and had attempted suicide. The youth spent three months in Winnipeg group homes, which was “purely negative” for his development, said defense lawyer Len Tailleur.

“The associations that were formed there were with individuals who were largely on the street in Winnipeg where he was put on placement and lots of negative processes that he experienced there were not helpful for him at all ,” Tailleur told the court.

Crown attorney Caitlin Hentig said the threat cost students valuable teaching time and wasted RCMP and fire department resources.

“Police are obviously very busy,” Crown attorney Caitlin Hentig said. “It takes away their ability to respond to other calls that are also being placed in the community.”

She said connecting the youth with the proper resources they need can prevent similar incidents from happening again.