Man Avoids Jail Time For Threatening LGBTQ+ High School Students

Author: Donald Padgett

An Ohio man avoided jail time when he pleaded guilty to threatening LGBTQ+ students at a local high school that had recently crowned two nonbinary students as prom royalty.

Brandon Moore, 42, pleaded guilty to a single count of phone threats/harassment in Kettering Municipal Court on Tuesday and was sentenced to three months house arrest and three years of supervised release, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Around 9 a.m. on May 3, Moore called Fairmont High School in Kettering and threatened LGBTQ+ students at the school. School officials called the police who quickly linked the threatening call to Moore, and he was taken into custody at 1 p.m. the same day.

“The phone call centered around someone coming to the school to shoot (LGBTQ+) students,” according to a court affidavit seen by the Daily News.

“To assure the safety of students, staff and visitors at the high school, additional Kettering Police Department officers were dispatched to Fairmont as the KPD began an immediate investigation of from where and by whom the call had been made. Additional measures were also taken to patrol and monitor the perimeter of the building,” officials said in a news release at the time.

Students at Fairmont High School had crowned two nonbinary students, Dai’sean Conley and Rosie Green, as prom royalty in April. The choice was greeted with mixed reactions in the community, and a protest of the election took place in front of the school on May 2. It is presumed Moore was upset about the election.

The Kettering School District shared a statement about the election process with local ABC affiliate WKEF, noting it was a matter of student choice.

This is a student-led process that is overseen by Fairmont’s United Student Body (USB), Class Council, and Administration,” the statement read. “This is the same process that has been followed for many years.”

As part of the plea bargain, a charge of inducing panic was dropped, and Moore agreed to have no further contact of any type with any school in Kettering.

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Donald Padgett