High School Senior Charged With Felony After Blow-Up Doll Prank Backfires
June 10, 2011 at 7:55 am by Athena
Rushville, Ind. – A senior at an Indiana high school decided to pull a seemingly harmless prank at his school even thought the students had been warned against doing so, and his decision landed him in jail, caused him to miss his graduation and now facing some possible time in prison.
It was with justifiable concern that school officials watched on survelliance video as an ominous, hooded and gloved individual entered the girl’s bathroom at Rushville High with an unspecified package, reemerging minutes later empty-handed. Believing it contained explosives, the school was evacuated and the bomb squad was called in. Soon after, both the offender and the contents of the package were recovered.
The offender? 18-year-old Rushville High senior Tyell Morton. The contents of the package? A freakin’ blow-up doll. Tyell developed the brilliant plan to plant the doll in the women’s restroom at school as a senior prank. The young man with no prior record now claims authorities are “blowing it out of proportion” (his words, not mine, but I would’ve used ‘em anyway), and I must say, I rather agree.
For his shenanigans, Morton has been charged with felony criminal mischief, a charge carrying a sentence of up to 8 years in prison. “I’m facing eight years to jail time, years for a doll, it’s a plastic doll. I didn’t put nobody’s name on it, nothing. Now I’m a terrorist for a prank gone wrong. It’s, I mean, life-changing. It’s traumatizing,” Morton said.
His attorney, Robert Turner, smartly points out that had Tyell brought a firearm to school, he would have only been looking at a maximum of three years. Hell, I’d be willing to bet he would have been looking at less time had it been a camera he planted in the girl’s bathroom.
This is just the latest over-the-top response in a graduation season littered by insanely excessive responses to student behavior. Prosecutors: In a country with a 30+% dropout rate, what’s the purpose of slapping felony records on the backs of those who might actually make it… on their way out the door, no less? Phil Caviness, Rush Co. prosecutor, blames his lack of discretion on a “post-Columbine world”. I wonder if that pathetic excuse will ever get old.
For more information and how you can help if you agree that this punishment doesn’t fit the crime, a Facebook support page has been setup.
Tags: blow-up doll, bomb, Crime, criminal mischief, Indiana, prank, school, student, Tyell Morton
