WILLIAMSON – A Mingo County pupil identified only as “Student A” in connection with a charge of calling in a false bomb threat at a county school, will be absent from that school for the remainder of the 2009-2010 term.

Three members of the Mingo County Board of Education, Chairman Charles S. West, William D. Duty and Michael Carter, voted to expel “Student A” at the conclusion of the closed session billed only as an “expulsion hearing” held Monday night at the board’s central conference room at Cinderella. (Board members Jacqueline Branch and Dr. J.W. Endicott were absent).

The office of Mingo County School Superintendent Dwight D. Dials did not identify the accused student nor school involved, but did release a copy of the West Virginia Code (61-6-17), outlining legislation passed in this state with regard to false reports concerning bombs or other explosive devices and penalties.

When the bomb threat was called in, this put in motion plans the school system has for evacuating students, teaching personnel and others to safety in an emergency situation.

The evacuation lasted two hours while West Virginia State Police and other emergency personnel went over the threatened school with a fine tooth comb, so to speak, before allowing reentry into the building.

The student expulsion hearing during a special session of the school board was a closed one and no details were reported – only the verdict of the board in confirming “Student A’s expulsion for the remainder of the school year.

West Virginia Code states that any person who imparts or conveys or causes to be imparted or conveyed any false information ... concerning the presence of any bomb or other explosive device in, at, on, near, under or against any structure such as a dwelling house, bridge, motor vehicle, vessel, boat, railroad car, airplane or other place ... is guilty of a felony. A school is covered by this legislation.

Upon conviction, such person shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $2,000 or confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years, or both.

The code also has a section stating that if any person violates any provision of subsection (b) of this code, and the violation directly causes economic harm, in addition to any other penalty the circuit court may order the offender to pay the victim or victims restitution for economic loss caused by the violation.

The circuit court’s authority is not limited to ordering restitution pursuant to other provisions of this code.

Subsection (c) of the code also states that a person whose violation causes suffering of serious bodily injury to another, is guilty of a felony. The code provides for penalties in this situation.

“Economic harm” that can be suffered in situations such as bomb threats is defined in the code as all direct, incidental and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of criminal conduct.

The code points out the following as economic harm:

“(1) All wages, salaries or other compensation lost as a result of criminal conduct;

“(2) The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees are prevented from working as a result of the criminal conduct;

“(3) The cost of all wages, salaries or other compensation paid to employees for time those employees spent in reacting to the result of the criminal conduct; or

“(4) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct.)”