Police close anti-gay Bullying case with no arrests
In September and early October, Amherst Police Chief John Askey committed to investing long hours of police time and extensive evidence gathering to see if any criminal charges — perhaps even for hate crimes — might be warranted in the case of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer.
Jamey, a Williamsville North High School freshman, killed himself less than two weeks into a new school year after years of complaining in online videos and posts about being bullied on the Web and in school over his sexual orientation.
But on Tuesday, after an exhaustive effort, Askey announced he was closing Jamey’s case without arrests or charges because, in this case, what is wrong is not the same as what is criminally prosecutable.
Askey admitted to being disappointed at being unable to send a stronger message that bullying and harassment is intolerable.
“I would have liked to have arrested someone for this,” he said of a case that has gained national attention, but “we can’t make a case when the proof necessary to prosecute it isn’t there.”
Police investigated a total of seven bullying incidents involving Jamey, the chief said, two of which occurred at Heim Middle School and five at Williamsville North.
But no charges will be brought forward because all of the alleged perpetrators were juvenile classmates, either 14 or 15 years old, who could not be held criminally accountable for what would be considered violations — not even misdemeanors — had they been adults.