An adolescent sued after she was accused of cybercrime

The family of a Florida adolescent who was arrested and jailed for cyber-threats she did not create has filed a lawsuit against her previous school and Meta. The 13-year-old was arrested and charged with a second-degree felony by the Pembroke Pines Police Department (PPPD) in November 2021 for “making a written threat to cause bodily damage or perform an act of terrorism.”

On November 18, threatening remarks were received from kids and employees at Renaissance Charter School at Pine through Instagram, prompting an inquiry. On November 19, the threats were reported to the PPPD. The school was put on a code-yellow alert in response to the threats, limiting mobility.

The PPPD said on November 19 that “our Threat Assessment Team was quickly called in to investigate the event.” They found and arrested a 13-year-old girl who was a former student at Renaissance Charter School.

The girl, who is from Miramar, was held in juvenile jail for 11 days. Later, the accusation against her was withdrawn.

Police discovered additional evidence on January 18, 2022, that exonerated the girl and accused one of her alleged victims, Suspect # 1, as the source of the threats.

On February 10, the PPPD reported, “Suspect # 1 then sent herself and other students repeated threatening texts, and purposefully lied to law enforcement and school administration to frame Victim # 1.”

On Tuesday, the wrongly accused teen’s mother filed a 12-page Broward County Circuit Court complaint, demanding damages of over $30k for her daughter’s mental and emotional pain.