MADISON — A judge has denied a request to extend a civil restraining order for a female Daniel Hand High School student who, police say, was threatened by a former classmate.
The restraining order, which was up for an extension after previously being granted, stemmed from a male teen sending a female classmate a series of allegedly threatening text messages amounting to a pattern of stalking, according to the court decision Tuesday in state Superior Court in New Haven.
In the written ruling, however, the judge said, “this court finds that his text messages were a joke and that he had no intentions of carrying out his threats. He acknowledged that this was a bad joke and that he would never harm [the girl] because they were friends.”
The boy has not been enrolled at Daniel Hand since the March incident, court records show. The boy may reapply in the fall, according to his attorney, Ryan McGuigan, adding he cannot comment further about enrollment.
Due to their ages, Hearst Connecticut Media is withholding the names of the two students.
“The family of the man that was wrongfully accused of threatening his friend is very pleased with the judge’s order,” McGuigan said Wednesday. “The family is looking for the truth to be revealed finally and that no one in the town of Madison was ever threatened or in danger, that there were no children ever in danger and it seems that this may have all been conjured.”
McGuigan also said his client’s family has “an avenue to pursue making themselves whole for their damages.”
The girl’s mother, whose name Hearst Connecticut Media is withholding to protect her daughter’s identity, said her family is appealing the judge’s decision with the state Appellate Court. The woman said they also plan to seek an expedited appeal and a motion for reconsideration with the Superior Court.
"It's a horrible precedent to set on this type of behavior," the mother said of the decision. "The judge ruled that he was joking despite him admitting that he was sending the texts to scare her. Then the judge focused on her behavior on March 20, the day of the event, but ignored what came after which was she missed school, she missed her last performance of show choir, and she went to the police."
Her daughter has been attending school regularly since the boy was no longer enrolled.
"We live in the same town," the mother said. "My daughter had some peace knowing there was a protective order in effect."
In an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media in March, the girl’s mother said she notified police on March 24 when she discovered several degrading and threatening text messages that were sent to her daughter four days earlier.
Madison Police Capt. Joseph Race said the messages included threats to shoot the girl at school.
A protective order was initially granted after the incident. However, after reviewing the text messages and testimony in the case, a Superior Court judge on Tuesday ruled there was insufficient evidence to extend the order.
The students were former friends, but their relationship changed in December 2020, when the girl ended a dating relationship with the male student’s friend, according to the court documents. The male student was struggling to choose sides between his friend and the girl, the documents said.
According to court documents, the male student sent the text messages when he learned the girl was going to attend a school sports event involving a team he and his friend were members of. However, the judge said the contents of the text messages were “inconsistent” with the girl’s testimony.
“After carefully reviewing all of the text messages, it is clear that [the girl] was engaged in back-and-forth text messaging with [the boy] the contents of which, is inconsistent with her testimony and her affidavit in support of her application, that she was afraid for her life and physical safety,” the court memo stated.
Some of the text message exchange was included in court documents. The male student texted to the girl, “I’ll shoot you,” “Die,” “Can’t wait to kill your [sic] in school” and others implying he was watching her, according to the court documents.
According to the court documents, the boy’s father voluntarily surrendered nine weapons he owned to Madison police when they investigated the text messages.
Lisa Backus contributed to this story.
christine.derosa@hearstmediact.com
May 27, 2021 at 02:19AM
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Judge: Allegedly threatening text messages sent to Madison teen were a ‘joke’ - Middletown Press
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