A mom's recorder found in her child's bag at a Norfolk school has led to felony and misdemeanor charges against her, but she claimed that she was only trying to prove bullying that the school ignored, WAVY-TV reported.
Sarah Sims said officials at Ocean View Elementary had turned their back on her 9-year-old daughter's claim that she was being repeatedly bullied at the school, the television station said.
She told the television station that she put a digital recorder into her daughter’s backpack in hopes of catching audio from inside the classroom. But school officials found the recorder and now have charged the mother criminally, WAVY-TV stated.
Sims was charged earlier this month by Norfolk Police with, according to the television station, felony use of a device to intercept oral communication, which carries a five-year prison sentence, and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
"I was appalled when I heard these charges," Sims' attorney Kristin Paulding said, according to CNN. "I was shocked to see that the school would decide to go to the police department and ultimately charge this mother as opposed to sitting her down and having just a simple conversation about what were her concerns and how could the school alleviate those concerns."
Norfolk commonwealth attorney's office spokeswoman Amanda Howie told CNN that it has received the case but has not started to investigate.
School district spokeswoman Khalilah LeGrand told the network that it could not comment on pending litigation.
CNN reported that Virginia is a one-party consent state, which means that it is legal for someone to record others when the person recording is involved in the conversation or when one of the parties in the conversation has given prior consent.
The network said Sims is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 18.
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