MERCER COUNTY Bomb threats are no joke, officials say

A person making a bomb threat could face up to seven years in prison.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- There will be no plea bargaining for anyone accused of making a school bomb threat in Mercer County.
School and law enforcement officials are taking a get-tough attitude with what James Epstein, Mercer County District Attorney, said has become a countywide problem.
Five county schools have been victims of bogus bomb threats over the past several weeks. The Sharon schools had two and the Farrell schools had three.
Epstein, the Sharon and Farrell school superintendents and other local law enforcement officials had a press conference Thursday seeking public help in ending the rash of threats.
Third-degree felonies
Making bomb threats is committing the crimes of threatening to use weapons of mass destruction and making terroristic threats, both third-degree felonies if the threat results in evacuation of a public building, Epstein said. That's punishable by up to seven years in prison, he said.
Epstein said his office won't offer any plea bargain to anyone accused of making bomb threats. A person convicted of the crime will be required to make restitution amounting to thousands of dollars to cover the cost of investigating the threat.
Richard Rubano, Farrell schools superintendent, said it costs $500 just to have a bomb-detection dog team search a building.
Epstein said there are also costs incurred by police, firefighters and the school district.
If the threat comes from an adult, that person will be put in jail. If a juvenile makes the threat, that individual will be placed in a detention facility, he said.
A juvenile convicted of a crime can be controlled by the courts until he or she reaches 21, Epstein said, adding that juvenile court hearings are open proceedings for anyone 14 and older, so the public will know the details if a juvenile is found guilty of making a bomb threat.
Most of the threats are probably coming from juveniles, and it appears they are copycat crimes, he said, but that doesn't make them any less serious.
"We strongly urge parents to discuss the seriousness of school bomb threats with their children," Epstein said. "This is not a prank. This is a crime."
Reward
Mercer County Crime Solvers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person or people making a bomb threat.
Epstein asked parents to show restraint when their children are victims of a school bomb threat.
Cell phone calls from students after a bomb threat at Farrell High School on Wednesday brought a large number of parents to the school insisting that their children be allowed to leave the premises.
Parents need to trust that school and law enforcement officials will safely evacuate their children and return them to classes when the building is determined to be safe, Epstein said.