You can’t always monitor what your teenager posts on social media, who they send messages to, and how they choose to use their right to free speech. Unfortunately, there may be times when they make poor decisions posting and communicating online, which can result in criminal charges or other legal trouble.
If your teenager threatened someone online and now the police have contacted you, you want to contact a criminal lawyer right away. You also want to do the following to help stop your teen’s peers from talking about the situation.
Screenshot the Post
Take a screenshot of the post so you can show in court exactly what the post or comment was. You also want to have images of all other comments that were included on the post or that are relevant, in case you have to show that threats were made by multiple parties, or if there are other statements that may be related to the case. The information from the original post is also needed so someone can’t misquote what your teen posted.
Delete the Post and Comments
After gathering all the evidence have your teen remove the post and anything that is posted on their wall or feed related to the original comment. You don’t want other people to start looking at it, saving the image of the conversation or post, or having the situation grow any larger than it already is. You may want to have your teen shut down their social media account until the issue is resolved, so no one can torment your teen or try to instigate any other problems.
Consult a Lawyer before Speaking to Law Officials
You want a lawyer to go through the information before your teen speaks with law officials. You don’t want the police to twist information, use something from your teen’s statement against them, or be alone with your teen where someone isn’t listening to the conversation. The lawyer will reach out to authorities for your teen to make a statement or be questions after they have gone over the case and briefed your teen on what to say.
Having access to social media and the Internet presents a lot of problems for teens, especially when they say something that they don’t mean, or that is taken out of context online. Take the time to meet with a criminal defence specialist to take care of the problem quickly.