Nearly five months after he was
charged with making a terroristic threat on Facebook, a Texas teen remains
in jail while his father worries constantly about his son’s safety.
“He’s scared
for his life, and I’m scared for his life," Jack Carter told TODAY.
"And every minute he’s in there is just another moment of torture for me
and for him."
Justin
Carter, 19, is being held in the Comal County Jail in New
Braunfels near San Antonio on a
$500,000 bond after being charged with making a terroristic threat on Facebook
in February. The charge is a third-degree felony and could lead to a prison
term of two to 10 years if Carter is convicted.
Two months
after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary
School in Newtown , Conn. , Carter
wrote on Facebook, “I think I’ma shoot up a kindergarten. And watch the blood
of the innocent rain down. And eat the beating heart of one of them.”
“Unfortunately,
any time that we have those type of comments made about a school system, with
the history of school violence, we have shown we have to take those very
seriously,’’ Lt. John Wells of the New Braunfels Police Department told TODAY.
“He never
contemplated anybody would take that to mean that he’s serious,’’ attorney Don
Flanary told TODAY. “It’s clearly sarcasm.”
Flanary and
Carter’s father understand why authorities were concerned but argue there is no
evidence Carter ever intended or had the means to carry out the threat. Flanary
says he will meet with the judge on Tuesday to ask for a reduced bond so that
Carter can be released from jail and come home to his family to fight the
charges. Under the current $500,000 bond, his family would have to put up 10
percent, or $50,000, to have him released, and does not have the money to do
so.
“He’s a good
kid, and he never did anything, and there was not any weapons,’’ Jack Carter
said. “I think it’s very obvious.”
“Justin
Carter’s case will proceed through the criminal justice system like all the
other felony cases,’’ the Comal County district attorney’s office said in a
statement to TODAY.
A change.org petition started
by Jack Carter called “Release My Son Justin Carter – In Jail for a Facebook
Comment” had received more than 63,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
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