A Victorian schoolboy has been charged with stalking, harassing and threatening to kill a bullied Jewish schoolboy and the boy’s mother.
The 16-year-old is accused of threatening a 12-year-old Jewish boy who was photographed kissing another boy’s shoe in a widely reported anti-Semitic bullying episode in Melbourne’s south-east.
The teenager will face the Childrens Court next month.
The threats followed widespread reporting this month of how the year 7 boy at Cheltenham Secondary College was subjected to months of racist bullying by classmates, including slurs about his Jewish identity.
The bullying involved humiliating the boy in a public park by making him kiss another boy’s shoe – or face being bashed by other year 7 boys – and a physical assault on school grounds that led to the assailant’s suspension.
The 16-year old high school student who has been charged is alleged to have become enraged by the reports, which garnered international attention, and launched a series of vile and threatening messages at the bullied boy and his mother.
Victoria Police confirmed the boy was arrested this month following complaints from the mother.
“Police have charged a 16-year-old Moorabbin boy with make threats to kill, use telecommunications device to harass and stalking in relation to alleged incidents involving a 49-year-old woman and 12-year-old boy between October 7 and 9 ,” a police spokesperson said.
Read the report by Adam Carey in The Age.