Virginia Mom Faces Charges For Trying To Record Bullying: Report

NORFOLK, VA — A woman in Virginia is reportedly facing felony charges after she sent her daughter to school with a recorder to capture audio from a classroom that would prove her daughter was being bullied.

The woman, Sarah Sims, shared her story with CNN. Sims told CNN that when she reached out to administrators at Ocean View Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia, where her daughter is in the fourth-grade, and got no response, she placed a recorder in her daughter's backpack. According to CNN, school officials found and confiscated the device from her daughter's desk.

A student at Norfolk State University, Sims faces up to five years in prison if she is convicted on the charges.

Norfolk police told Patch in an email that Sims was charged Nov. 6 with one felony count each of interception, disclosure, etc., of wire, electronic or oral communications and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which is a misdemeanor.

Police did not release any further information on the case as the investigation is ongoing.

"I was appalled when I heard these charges," Sims' attorney Kristin Paulding told CNN. "I was shocked to see that the school would decide to go to the police department and ultimately charge this mother as opposed to sitting her down and having just a simple conversation about what were her concerns and how could the school alleviate those concerns."

Sims said she doesn't know why the school called the police, instead of her, about the incident.

Norfolk Public Schools issued the following statement on the case:

Norfolk Public Schools (NPS) takes any accusation of bullying, whether by a student or staff member very seriously. In every instance a thorough investigation is performed. In addition, school and district administrators always work closely with parents and students to quickly address concerns and offer accommodations when necessary. It is NPS’ practice to handle parent complaints internally.

With regard to Ms. Sims’ case, the district had a responsibility to fully investigate the alleged incident and as such a legal review was requested from the district’s counsel (Norfolk City Attorney's Office). After review of the incident, counsel forwarded the matter to the Norfolk Police Department for investigation. That investigation then resulted in criminal charges against Sarah Sims. As the location of the offense was one of our schools, NPS had a duty to fully cooperate with authorities. This included not commenting on a pending legal matter, as is customary in all school districts.

We are committed to providing high-quality academic instruction to all students in a safe and secure environment. Parents receive the NPS Student Handbook and Code of Conduct at the start of each school year; page 43 #3 addresses electronic recording devices. Should parents or guardians have concerns about their child, they are encouraged to communicate them immediately to the appropriate school-level administrator. Both students and staff are afforded due process in these matters.

As CNN noted, Virginia is a one-party consent state, which means it's legal for a person to record someone in a conversation if the person recording is one of the involved parties or if one of the parties in the conversation has given consent.

Read the full story at CNN.

Image via Shutterstock