Pennsylvania State Police arrested a 17-year-old from Monroe County for making fake emergency phone calls across the country.
The practice, known as swatting, is when someone calls 911 and describes an emergency that is not actually happening. The goal is to dispatch a large number of armed police officers to a certain address.
On April 10, criminal investigators at Fern Ridge were contacted by the Collin County Sheriff’s Office in Texas about the incident. Officers, using digital forensics, tracked the calls to an address in Jackson Township. Police secured a search warrant for the location on May 2.
During a forensic download of the 17-year-old’s computer, a total of nine swatting calls were discovered to have been made to Florida, Oregon, California, Tennessee, Kentucky and other locations. Child pornography was also discovered on his computer.
The teen, whose name has not been released, was taken into custody. A juvenile petition was filed. He has been charged with possession of child pornography, false alarms and other related charges.
He is awaiting a preliminary hearing at the Bucks County Juvenile Detention Center.