Bomb threat nets probation

FREEHOLD - A 14-year-old boy from Manalapan was sentenced to one year of probation on April 23 and ordered to pay approximately $2,000 in fines after admitting to leaving a note containing a false bomb threat at the Manalapan-English-town Middle School, Millhurst Road.

Additionally, the juvenile's driving privileges were revoked by the court for six months, according to a press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. Because the juvenile is under 17, the effect of the license suspension is that he will be unable to obtain a driver's license for six months after he reaches his 17th birthday.

The sentence was imposed by state Superior Court Judge Eugene A. Iadanza after the juvenile entered a guilty plea to a charge of false public alarm. The maximum penalty for this third degree offense is two years in the custody of the Juvenile Justice Commission.

According to the press release, on March 1 at about 11:30 a.m. a bomb threat was discovered written on a note in a stairwell at the Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School. The threat made specific reference to a bomb which was to explode later that day at 1 p.m. As a result of the threat, police were notified and the school was evacuated. After the evacuation was complete, the building was cleared using bomb-detecting canine units.

A joint investigation by school officials and the Manalapan Police Department resulted in the identification of the juvenile as the individual who had written the threat and left it in the stairwell.