(CNN)When Sarah Sims’ daughter complained she was being bullied in elementary school, the Virginia mother grew concerned.
Sims reached out to administrators at Ocean View Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia, where her daughter is in fourth grade, but she said she got no response. In September, Sims decided to investigate on her own.She sent her daughter to school with a digital audio recorder in her backpack, hoping to capture audio from the classroom. School officials found out and confiscated the device, which had been in her daughter’s desk recording the school day.Now, Sims, who is herself a student at Virginia’s Norfolk State University, is in trouble with law.Earlier this month, Norfolk police charged Sims with a felony — intercepting wire, electronic or oral communications — and with a misdemeanor — contributing to the delinquency of a minor[…]
Virginia is a one-party consent state, meaning it is legal for someone to record others when the person recording is involved in the conversation or when one of the parties in the conversation has given prior consent.The Norfolk commonwealth’s attorney’s office, which would prosecute the charges, said it just received the case report and hasn’t begun investigating, according to spokeswoman Amanda Howie.
Let’s hope the DA has some common sense. But even if they drop the charges, which they should, the school’s reaction here is completely out of line. Clearly they have far more interest in concealing their behavior and protecting bullies than in serving the kids or the parents.
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