Deputies in Florida have published a 9-year-old boy’s name and mug shot online, sparking swift and furious debate.
The unblurred picture of the child, who was arrested for allegedly threatening a classmate with a knife, was shared on Facebook by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Friday in a viral post that garnered nearly 50,000 comments and counting.
The boy was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill following Thursday’s alleged incident at a Crescent City elementary school.
The post detailed how the boy allegedly brought a pocketknife to school before getting into a fight with a classmate and later threatening multiple students.
But the decision to share the child’s name and photo online was condemned by the majority of the commenters.
“While I absolutely do not support his behavior or bringing a weapon to school, this is still a 9-year-old child. Arresting him, taking a mug shot, and publicly posting it like this can cause lasting psychological harm,” one Facebook user wrote.
“Since when does law enforcement show pictures of a 9-year-old child and give their name? I’m not condoning what the child did, but still, he’s a very young child,” a second wrote.
“Yall really posted this baby picture like this,” raged a third.
Despite the backlash, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says it publishes juvenile mug shots for felony charges for safety and deterrence reasons.
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