Kitchener dad arrested at school after daughter draws picture of gun

Not enough facepalms for this. Apparently anything a child with an imagination draws, must be real. I'm so glad people weren't this worried when I was a kid, otherwise they'd have locked up my pet godzilla, taken my flying tanks, and arrested me for farting on my brother.

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KITCHENER — A Kitchener father is angry at police after he was arrested at his child’s school and later strip-searched at the police station, all because his 4-year-old daughter drew a picture of a gun in class.

“I’m picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I’m locked up,” Jessie Sansone, 26, said of his ordeal on Wednesday. “I was in shock. This is completely insane.”

The school principal, police and child welfare officials, however, all stand by their actions. They say they had to investigate to determine whether there was a gun in Sansone’s house that children had access to.

“From a public safety point of view, any child drawing a picture of guns and saying there’s guns in a home would warrant some further conversation with the parents and child,” said Alison Scott, executive director of Family and Children’s Services.

Waterloo Regional Police Insp. Kevin Thaler said there was a complaint from Forest Hills Public School that “a firearm was in a residence and children had access to it. We had every concern, based on this information, that children were in danger.”

Sansone said he went to pick up his three children on Wednesday and was summoned to the principal’s office, where three police officers were waiting. They said he was being charged with possession of a firearm.

He was escorted from the school, handcuffed and put in a cruiser. At the same time, other officers went to his home, where his wife and 15-month-old child were waiting for him.

They made his wife come to the police station while the other three children were taken to Family and Children’s Services to be interviewed.

At the police station, Sansone was forced to remove his clothes for a full strip search.

Several hours later, a detective apologized and said he was being released with no charges, Sansone said.

The detective told him his daughter Neaveh had drawn a picture of a man holding a gun. When a teacher asked her who the man was, the girl replied, “That’s my daddy’s. He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters.”

After he was released, Sansone was asked to sign a paper authorizing a search of his home. He signed, even though he didn’t have to, he said.

The school principal, Steve Zack, said a staff member called child welfare officials because the law requires them to report anything involving the safety or neglect of a child.

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source

Hit the cops and the school with a lawsuit. There is no way anything that happened warranted the actions of either the school or the police.

No grounds for any of that.

That is disgusting. THIS is the kind of thing that makes me hate this country and what it is becoming.

Its all because of Harpor .

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Waterloo Regional Police Insp. Kevin Thaler said there was a complaint from Forest Hills Public School that “a firearm was in a residence and children had access to it. We had every concern, based on this information, that children were in danger.”

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BS, the cops weren't acting in the kids best interest, that's just a story to save face. Based on his age, I'm sure the cops jumped to the conclusion that he was a drug dealer.

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Originally posted by OriginalGoods
Its all because of Harpor .

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http://i43.tinypic.com/347ve4x.jpg

Wow that's ridiculous, I most definitely would not have signed that paper authorizing a search of my home. I don't think he has much to stand on now that he signed the search papers interms of a law suit.

Unbelievable. What is this country turning into. Arrested on no evidence, nobody thought to investigate? Apparently the dad is a licensed support worker and was even given a job offer to be a counselor for the school. Did the principle or teacher not think to give him a call first? He was also arrested without being told why and held overnight. The family also had to pay $2000 for legal fees. The worst part is he might not be able to travel to the states now as they apparently will not admit people with an arrest record, even if they haven't been admitted. I hope evereybody involved with this is fired.

If I'm kidnapped and have guns pointed at me I'm probably going to sign a piece of paper as well, no matter what it says.

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Originally posted by FraserB
Hit the cops and the school with a lawsuit. There is no way anything that happened warranted the actions of either the school or the police.

No grounds for any of that.

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I'm not a litigious guy but I agree. If the story is completely accurate (and I don't think there is much more to the story) there could be some solid ground for a big lawsuit coming.

here's another article.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/...-gun-at-school

It says at the very end that the guy does have a criminal record, which I think would preclude him from owning a firearm legally(maybe? it's been years since I did the course if that was even in their at all).

So if the cops knew he had a record and were getting a credible report that he had a firearm in his possession, that might be a good reason to search his house, but the report just says they arrested him soley because the school officials thought that a child might have access to a firearm, which sounds pretty ridiculous. I mean at least the "charge" should have been something like possesion of a firearm without the necedsary permits, not just "possession of a firearm" like that was illegal in and of itself.

Turn the table on them. Report that the teachers are having sex with the students....

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Originally posted by tentacles
So if the cops knew he had a record and were getting a credible report that he had a firearm in his possession, that might be a good reason to search his house, but the report just says they arrested him soley because the school officials thought that a child might have access to a firearm, which sounds pretty ridiculous. I mean at least the "charge" should have been something like possesion of a firearm without the necedsary permits, not just "possession of a firearm" like that was illegal in and of itself.

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So many games with guns you can play in your living room, (ps3 move, MoH etc) I can't believe you can move on a drawing...

I've always heard of people wanting to name their kid Nevaeh but never actually heard of anyone doing it.

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Originally posted by Mar
I've always heard of people wanting to name their kid Nevaeh but never actually heard of anyone doing it.

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Cause it guarantees them a life of appearances on Maury and Jerry Springer if you do.

Naw, the dad should only have been arrested if she wrote down the words

"When in doubt pull the trigger, daddy!"

That would show negligent upbringing for sure.

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“That’s my daddy’s. He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters .”

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THAT'S all the cause they need to arrest the man?!?

I hope not.

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Originally posted by sexualbanana


THAT'S all the cause they need to arrest the man?!?

I hope not.

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I'll bet he's black and has a white wife.
Kitchner,Waterloo are priding themselves for the decreasing crime rate.
Call 911 if you suspect a black guy with a gun...or in Alberta call 911 if you suspect a white guy being impaired.