After spending the past three months in custody, one of the two teens who pleaded guilty last week to making threats on Facebook is back home with family tonight, sentenced to time-served and two years’ probation.
Today's sentence brings to an end a long 90 days for Mitch Eisen's client. The teen, who can’t be identified because of his age, was charged in November with a slew of offences including conspiracy to commit murder, uttering threats, and conspiracy to commit sexual assault. These charges were laid against two Barrie teens after the father of one of the teens found a series of Facebook chats detailing who they would kill, how they would do it, and what weapons they would use.
“I think the threatening charges were appropriate charges and he pleaded guilty to those,” says Eisen. “The initial charge of conspiracy to commit murder was way over the top and should never have been laid in the first place.”
The teen was in court today with his family. He spoke only twice: when asked if he understood the sentence and when asked if he plans to obey it, answering yes to both questions.
As part of the sentence, the young man can’t have contact with his co-accused, he can’t set foot on the property of his former high school, he can’t access the Internet without parental supervision, and he must provide a sample of his DNA to police.
He also can’t contact any of the people named in the chats. Last week, court heard he had threatened to bring a gun to school and kill one of his teachers, and the Facebook messages spoke of a desire to stab students one by one. Court also heard last week about a medical report suggesting there is a high risk the teen will reoffend.
Eisen says his client has apologized and has learned an important lesson.
“You have to be careful about what you say on the Internet,” he says. “What you write on the Internet, who you say it to, it is all there to be seen. You have to have respect for the community you live in.”
The second teen was not in court today. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.
