Teen faces prison after sex doll prank goes awry

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When 18-year-old Tyell Morton put a blow-up sex doll in a bathroom stall on the last day of school, he didn't expect school officials to call a bomb squad or that he'd be facing up to eight years in prison and a possible felony record.

That's right, folks. Blow-up dolls are a threat to us all.

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"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?"

But...but kids should know better than to play pranks! Everyone knows that you start with a blow-up doll, and then you move to toilet paper, and before you know it, you're peeing on the principal's tires!

Seriously, though, in a country where politicians who want to appear tough on crime push for mandatory minimum sentences on drug crimes while letting violent criminals out of prison early...yeah, it makes you wonder about the fucked-up legal system.

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A janitor at Rushville Consolidated High School saw Morton run away from the school May 31, and security footage showed a person in a hooded sweatshirt and gloves entering the school with a package and leaving five minutes later without it, according to court documents.

Administrators feared explosives, so they locked down the school and called police. K9 dogs and a bomb squad searched the building before finding the sex doll.

This is actually wise, I think. If you have reason to suspect a possible bomb, you need to go in and check things out. It's better to be safe than sorry.

What followed this, however, goes straight into WTF territory.

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Morton was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, and institutional criminal mischief, a felony that carries the potential of two to eight years in prison.

Okay...so no bomb was found. It was just a sex doll. I could possibly see the charge of disorderly conduct (maybe), but institutional criminal mischief?

Spoiler:

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"We have reviewed this situation numerous times," Rush County Schools Superintendent John E. Williams told the newspaper last week. "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."

Caution is great and all, but...there was no bomb. Since when is it a felony to look suspicious?

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Joel Schumm, a professor at the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, questioned the validity of the charges.

"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."

Exactly. It's a prank. It might warrant suspension...or if it's a first offense, it might warrant only a warning. Seriously, how much harm can come from a blow-up doll? Oh, right. A high school is full of minors, and if they see a sex toy, they might think about sex. And everyone knows that teenagers are innocent creatures who never think about sex!

This is the dumbest thing ever. In America's already overpopulated prisons where they are cutting prison sentances for violent crime and making it hard enough for cops to arrest somebody in the first place, they even consider incarcerating a kid after playing a prank as harmless as this?

Sure, by all means show caution when somebody acts suspiscious but dammit, he wasn't the one who called up a bomb squad; that was the increasing paranoia of the USA.

It's a freaking SCHOOL, not an airport.

Harley Quinn hyenaholic wrote:

This is the dumbest thing ever. In America's already overpopulated prisons where they are cutting prison sentances for violent crime and making it hard enough for cops to arrest somebody in the first place, they even consider incarcerating a kid after playing a prank as harmless as this?

Sure, by all means show caution when somebody acts suspiscious but dammit, he wasn't the one who called up a bomb squad; that was the increasing paranoia of the USA.

It's a freaking SCHOOL, not an airport.

Actually, people do occasionally plant bombs at schools--one went off at one of the schools I've worked for. Luckily, it was a homemade device that did nothing more than make a loud noise. That said, though, acting suspicious is still not a crime. If there was no bomb, there was no bomb. Sorry if the bomb squad wasted their time, but I'm sure a lot of suspicions don't pan out.

You'd think though, that though the bomb squads might have been called in, you'd think the courts would at least have something better to do with their time.

Why not just charge him with the misdemeanor and then make him do some community service, or alternately have him/his parents pay the cost of the bomb squad going out there to defuse the "bomb"?

Throwing him in prison for years is going to do noth-- oh, wait, he can work for pennies an hour in a privatized prison, all the while with the threat of being raped or stabbed by an actual violent criminal hanging over his head.

Wow, that's certainly the best solution!

Next time he'll just put Cling Film (I think the yanks call it Saran Wrap or something?) over the toilet bowl for his prank.

The old ones are the best.

The thing is, though, that the prosecutor has said he isn't seeking jail time. Eight years is the maximum penalty for the charge. That said, it's still too heavy a charge, and there's little doubt that it's based on the school's overreaction, not on what the kid himself did.

One thing that's really annoyed me since this story resurfaced in the last couple days -- it had first come up about a month ago -- is the thundering legal ignorance of people acting like he's already been convicted and sentenced. "This is outrageous! He's getting eight years for this while [recently acquitted person] gets nothing?"

Yeah, who gives a fuck if some douchebag causes a panic and wastes the valuable time of the emergency services? IT WAS A JOKE YOU GUYS A REALLY FUNNY JOKE CLEARLY YOU'RE JUST PRUDES WHO HATE SEX DOLLS

are you fucking kidding me

Drabbler wrote:

The thing is, though, that the prosecutor has said he isn't seeking jail time. Eight years is the maximum penalty for the charge. That said, it's still too heavy a charge, and there's little doubt that it's based on the school's overreaction, not on what the kid himself did.

The thing is, if he's convicted of the felony charge, even if he's given the lightest sentence, he's still a convicted felon with all the stigma that entails.

Cyberwulf wrote:

are you fucking kidding me

Are you?

Cyberwulf wrote:

Yeah, who gives a fuck if some douchebag causes a panic and wastes the valuable time of the emergency services? IT WAS A JOKE YOU GUYS A REALLY FUNNY JOKE CLEARLY YOU'RE JUST PRUDES WHO HATE SEX DOLLS

are you fucking kidding me

Yes, and this was clearly a malicious, calculated act. IT'S WHAT HE WANTED ALL ALONG WHAT A MASTERMIND are you fucking kidding me?

Well, wasting the police's time is a criminal offense, isn't it?

Howithurts wrote:

Well, wasting the police's time is a criminal offense, isn't it?

But he didn't intend to. His plan here was not to waste the police's time but to play a prank. It got out of hand, and he should be punished, but a felony? Really?

TheHedonist wrote:

Howithurts wrote:

Well, wasting the police's time is a criminal offense, isn't it?

But he didn't intend to. His plan here was not to waste the police's time but to play a prank. It got out of hand, and he should be punished, but a felony? Really?

Exactly. The kid wasn't trying to get the police involved.

And as to it being a criminal offense to inadvertently waste a cop's time--maybe the cop who suspected I was a hooker because I was walking my dogs while wearing skimpy clothing last night should arrest me because I'm not a hooker and he wasted his time hassling me.

Cyberwulf wrote:

Yeah, who gives a fuck if some douchebag causes a panic and wastes the valuable time of the emergency services? IT WAS A JOKE YOU GUYS A REALLY FUNNY JOKE CLEARLY YOU'RE JUST PRUDES WHO HATE SEX DOLLS

are you fucking kidding me

I agree with you on a lot of things, Wulf, but here, I can't. It's out of question that what he did was reckless, douchebaggy and utterly braindead. However, it is NOT enough to warrant a potential felony charge. If they make that one stick to him when he's gonna be fresh out of high school, with no job experience, he has two choices: Be on the dole for the rest of his life or become an ACTUAL criminal, because NO ONE is going to hire him ever. Most colleges likely also wouldn't admit him (to my knowledge, my application asked whether I was a convicted felon, and I'm pretty sure this is standard procedure). All doors slammed shut, for a stupid-ass teen prank.

I'm all for punishing him. Fine him, make him pay for anyone who was alerted and wasted time on his prank (fire fighters, bomb squad, whatever). Expel him from school - if need be, he can get a diploma in various other ways. Even stick him into jail for a few months, if you feel this is needed (though I think this would be overkill). But a fucking felony charge for a prank that ultimately did not do harm to anyone? FUCK. NO.

For perspective: I am in the same state as this kid, and the husband used to work for the local school corp. They had bomb threat pranks ALL THE TIME, and the culprits were heavily fined and expelled. I personally think that's enough punishment for being a stupid, hormone-addled little shit, myself.

A kid from my school who pulled a prank like this one would get suspended for a few days, tops. No felony charge, even if a bomb squad was called in (it's not like the kid made a bomb threat--he just looked suspicious).

Lady Anne wrote:

A kid from my school who pulled a prank like this one would get suspended for a few days, tops. No felony charge, even if a bomb squad was called in (it's not like the kid made a bomb threat--he just looked suspicious).

True that. The cases I mentioned were overt bomb threats, not just someone walking around with a package and leaving without it. Quite honestly, he could have been a pizza delivery boy bringing a teacher's lunch, if all they went by is the video footage. Not that I'm saying that checking up on it was a bad thing, but again: A felony charge for looking suspicious?

Penguin wrote:

The thing is, if he's convicted of the felony charge, even if he's given the lightest sentence, he's still a convicted felon with all the stigma that entails.

Yes, and I really hope it never gets anywhere near that. I was seeing headline after headline mentioning the eight years, which isn't even on the table. [What? The press being sensationalist? Say it ain't so!] The DA would have to be nuts -- admittedly a possibility -- to let this go all the way to trial, and a plea agreement with the felony still in wouldn't be any kind of a bargain.

TheHedonist wrote:

Howithurts wrote:

Well, wasting the police's time is a criminal offense, isn't it?

But he didn't intend to. His plan here was not to waste the police's time but to play a prank. It got out of hand, and he should be punished, but a felony? Really?

Intention probably isn't necessarily needed. Is it reasonable to believe that this kid's actions would have led to a bomb squad being called? Then it's likely to be some "reckless indifference" or some other legal jargon with a lot of syllables.

I don't think it's reasonable to assume this would happen.

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

TheHedonist wrote:

Howithurts wrote:

Well, wasting the police's time is a criminal offense, isn't it?

But he didn't intend to. His plan here was not to waste the police's time but to play a prank. It got out of hand, and he should be punished, but a felony? Really?

Intention probably isn't necessarily needed. Is it reasonable to believe that this kid's actions would have led to a bomb squad being called? Then it's likely to be some "reckless indifference" or some other legal jargon with a lot of syllables.

I don't think it's reasonable to assume this would happen.

Point.

I remember once at my high school my principal called the bomb squad because someone left a speaker box unattended in front of the school. We were evacuated, and guess what was in the box?

Speakers.

Guess the UPS guy should have been charged with a felony amirite?

I don't see why any punishment more strict than detention should be given. But since the kid doesn't go to the school now, I suppose the only logical thing to do is incarcerate him for 2 to 8 years.

Saleha wrote:

For perspective: I am in the same state as this kid, and the husband used to work for the local school corp. They had bomb threat pranks ALL THE TIME, and the culprits were heavily fined and expelled. I personally think that's enough punishment for being a stupid, hormone-addled little shit, myself.

Yeah, it is hard to get worked up about one kid accidently causing the bomb squad to get involved when students overtly called in bomb threats every few months when I was in high school. Ugh, so many evacuations...

Considering it was the teachers who called the school, and the kid isn't at the school now, it'd be a little tough to fine and expell him...

Still, it's ridiculous.

Yeah, no one in the thread is saying he doesn't deserve some sort of punishment for wasting everyone's time by looking like a threat, just that felony charges are a ludicrous overreaction. If he had been the one to call the bomb squad, or if he had been intentionally trying to make people think it was a bomb (rather than looking suspicious because he was trying to avoid being caught at the prank), that would be a different matter. But as-is, what he did was stupid, not malicious.

There's no way this kid should do more time than Casey Anthony.

I don't know what the title means by 'awry', either. Yes, I do know the meaning of the word. The prank had pretty much the desired effect - getting everybody riled up over something totally harmless.

They just got riled up more than anybody would have expected. The wrong people got riled up - I'll bet my arse that it's not the school that's pressing charges.

When this passes over (because there's no way in hell that he's going to prison, the press would go nuts), that kid's gonna be a legend and people are gonna be trying to top him and THAT is where the problems will really kick off.