YULEE, Fla. — Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper announced the arrest of a 13-year-old middle school student Tuesday following a cyberbullying investigation involving serious threats.
The child has been charged with two felonies: electronic threats to kill and aggravated stalking. The investigation began on August 1, when deputies responded to a juvenile victim’s home after the child’s parent discovered alarming, life-threatening posts on TikTok directed at their child, according to the sheriff.
“No matter your age, threats of this nature come with serious consequences,” Sheriff Bill Leeper said.
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The threatening TikTok posts appeared to belong to a former Yulee Middle School student, displaying both the student’s profile picture and the YMS logo. Because of the threatening posts, NCSO and YMS received numerous calls from concerned parents who said they planned to keep their children home on the first day of school.
YMS’ School Resource Officer arranged a meeting with the student initially believed to be responsible for the TikTok account and their parents. During that meeting, the parents explained they had parental controls in place to prevent their child from downloading or using social media apps.
They also reported the account to TikTok, which was subsequently removed. However, the next day a second account was created using the same child’s name and likeness without their permission, the sheriff said.
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On Aug. 13, SROs received a tip identifying a possible suspect behind the fake account. Investigators interviewed the suspect. A forensic search of the 13-year-old’s phone revealed the profile picture and other images linked to the TikTok account in question.
“Not only did this child make disturbing threats, but she did so using the identity of another student, whose reputation was unfairly damaged in the process,” Sheriff Leeper said. “Let this serve as a reminder for parents to closely monitor their child’s activity on any device.”
The girl was booked into the Nassau County Jail & Detention Center on Tuesday.
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