Virginia Woman Facing Felony Charges For Putting Recorder In Bullied Daughter’s Bag

Sarah Sims, mother of a 9-year-old girl from Norfolk, Virginia, was charged by police authorities with felony and misdemeanor Tuesday because she put a recorder in her daughter’s backpack after the child complained of being bullied in school.

Sims said her daughter was being bullied in her school, Ocean View Elementary, according to a report by WAVY-TV, a NBC-affiliated channel. She added her numerous emails and calls to the school authorities went unanswered.

The report said, after not getting any answers from the school, Sima put a digital recorder inside her daughter’s school bag in late September so that she could later listen to whatever was happening inside the classroom. Sims said she did this because she wanted to prove the school was not taking any action to help her daughter.

“If I’m not getting an answer from you what am I left to do?” Sims said.

The recorder was found and the 9-year-old was shifted to another classroom while Sims was charged with a felony, a month later.

The woman was charged with the felony of using a device to intercept oral communication and also misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The felony can lead to a jail term of five years while the misdemeanor charge could result in another 12-month penalty, according to a report by NY Daily News.

After getting to know about these charges, Sims told WAVY-TV she “tried to be fair” with regards to trying to contact the school and added that, “There is nothing fair about this.”

She also said, “I was mortified. The next thing I know I’m a felon. Felony charges and a misdemeanor when I’m trying to look out for my kid. What do you do?”

WAVY-TV reported they tried contacting different schools in the Norfolk area but all of them declined to comment as the investigation for the case was still pending. However, the channel was told electronic devices were not allowed in elementary schools.

Sims said in the report what concerned her most was she was yet to get to a response regarding the matter from Ocean View Elementary School.

Sims’ attorney, Kristin Paulding, said in the report, “They aren’t making this about that classroom. These are charges which carry jail time.”

Sims will be attending a preliminary hearing on Jan. 18, 2018. However, Paulding thinks both the charges won’t hold up in court and they are too excessive when it comes to this case. However, she added the “community” needed to know about this particular case.

“We are at the very early stages of this, but even at the early stages I think the community needs to know that this is happening, because any parent out there that is sending their child to school now could be at risk for something that happened to Sarah [Sims].”