Florida sheriff eyes charging parents of teens arrested after bullied girl’s suicide

The Florida sheriff investigating a girl’s suicide allegedly prompted by online bullying said he’s considering charging the parents of one of the two girls arrested in the case because they’re in “total denial.”

Polk Country Sheriff Grady Judd told Fox News Thursday that if evidence indicates the parents of one of the two girls knowingly allowed the girl to post the bullying comments online, they could be charged with contributing to the dependency or delinquency of a child.

The two girls, ages 12 and 14, were identified by police as the main culprits in the bullying they say led to 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick’s suicide. Judd said the 14-year-old girl showed a “total disregard for life” and continued to post comments online after the girl’s death.

The family of the 14-year-old girl said her computer account was hacked and that she was not posting anymore. The girl’s mother told ABC News that she checked her daughter’s Facebook status every time she used it.

Judd, however, has questioned that account.

“You tell me that there’s not parents, who instead of taking that device and smashing it into a 1,000 pieces in front of her child, says, ‘Oh, her account was hacked?’ We see where the problem is,” Judd said.

Judd has been criticized by some for his handling of the case. One Tampa Bay defense lawyer told MyFoxTampaBay.com that “he’s doing an awful job of pre-judging.”

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