Child's Arrest Was 'Devastating' But Not Unlawful, 11th Circuit Rules
Case of child's wrongful arrest for allegedly stalking and harassing a fellow middle-school classmate raises questions about what searches and seizures when arresting children.
October 22, 2019 at 03:49 PM
5 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Daily Business Review
A Lakeland girl will not receive a new trial over claims she was wrongly arrested for allegedly stalking and harassing 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick, who killed herself in 2013 over alleged bullying by classmates.
The case raises questions about what constitutes unlawful search and seizure when arresting children. And although the appellate panel acknowledged the arrest had "a devastating effect" on the plaintiff, it determined the officers' actions were not unlawful.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit found it was reasonable for Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and his deputy Jonathan McKinney to have concluded that Katelyn Roman, who was 12 at the time, had willfully, maliciously and repeatedly harassed her estranged best friend, even though the charges were ultimately dropped.
What happened?
Sedwick jumped off a silo at an abandoned cement plant in 2013.
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