Autistic Teen’s Only Friend Turns Out to Be Undercover Cop

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Such a horrible story! I feel so sorry for the boy.

Not necessarily, people still tell me I look 16 or 18 and I am 31.

Wow. Also how it was done. This young man doesn't have a right to a lawyer ? ?

The police may have run the gimmick. Well, he wasn't 'really' asking for a lawyer.

Okay, if any of us are ever in the same or similar situtaion. "Do I have a right to a lawyer?" or, "Do I have a right to have a lawyer present?"

And once you remember the idea of a lawyer, take a pause, and then both go formal and go brief, "I am requesting a lawyer."

If they continue going, take another pause, and repeat it again, "I am requesting a lawyer." Don't be a broken record. Saying it twice should be enough. If they really keep going. Wait like 20 or 30 minutes and repeat it once more.

I am an American citizen, and I am proud of the many good aspects of my country. Many countries have many good aspects. Many countries recognize substantial rights of their citizens. All of the same, some rights can be more illusionary than real, and there can be quite a difference between theory and practice.

And when you're entirely innocent, and the police start looping and asking the same questions again, and trying to trap you, that is another good time to request a lawyer.

Let's say a murder happens in your neighborhood. As a neighbor, you want the police to solve the crime and catch the right guy. You're happy to talk with the police. Usually, they have a number of people to interview, they just don't have much time, they're likely to be quicker than you are.

But if it becomes this looping, spiraling, accusatory, and it will be obvious. And it's okay to let it go a half hour too long. That's just a medium mistake. It's even okay to let it go two hours too long. Just don't let it become a twelve hour ordeal.

You see very early on, the focus shifts from finding the truth to making a case. And the police get caught up in this battle of wills with the person they fixate on as the 'prime suspect,' which initially could have just been a guess on their part and a wrong guess. And with you as an innocent person not talking to the police, they may actually get out there and do some police work.

WP suggested this may be of interest but here 7 years later the Care2 article seems to be gone.
Playing in Google did find,

https://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2013/10 ... l-district

8 years and nobody responded to my post from 2013

As usual these stories have a deeper element.

The teen's story of not having friends in school mirrors my daughter's experiences now. She hangs around with a bunch of girls at school (she made me buy one of these brats a gift card for her birthday) but these same girls never invite her to their birthdays despite my daughter inviting them. The parents are polite but I gather they don't want their little princesses to spend time with a disabled child.

Round and round we go...

D'oh! necropost.
I propose 10 years hard labour.

Look on the bright side, we can revisit old friends....

I found that two "Friends" who associated with me and another guy who was in my formclass in secondary school (Who at one time used to rip my hair out roots and all in his sense of humour (He wasn't trying to be nasty. He was just rough and I did not have another friend my age in that school so I would stick by him rather then be totally alone (Been there, done that!))).... But these two others who would later also associate with us... After I left school as I knew where one of them lived, neither of them wanted anything to do with me. I guess it was the other person they wanted to be friends with. They were loners like I was but they did continue friendship with each other. They were about a year younger then us. Maybe two years?

I know that this case is a while ago. It must have been quite a thing for that kid to go out, look for drugs and buy them for his new friend. Also 60 texts? If after a few texts and the officer had no drugs he should have dropped it as a genuine drug dealer would have supplied after being asked the first couple of times because they are looking to make a profit. But 60? People without autism would have either dropped their new friend or tried to find out where they could get drugs to stop the pestering. The poor young man went out of his way to find some for his new "Friend".

How hurt he must be because his only new friend was found to be false? Also for the school to try to suspend him based on that? I mean... Come on. They are a special school to teach ad look after the vunerable. If there are illegal drugs in there it is because the teachers don't really know there students and the students parents well enough, which kinda indicates that the teachers are not doing their jobs properly, especially the principle. As teachers should know their pupils and the struggles they face or are facing. Such schools are not just about education. What good is education alone? Special schools are ones where the teachers should be concentrating on finding ways to work round the pupils struggles so they can be educated but also so they can overcome their difficulties. Special schools teachers therefore should have a much deeper understanding of their pupils needs and it is shocking for the school to not stand in when the arrest was made to explain how the young kid thinks. So my BIG concern is not just with the police and their methods (If it was just two or three texts and the drugs were supplied then fair enough but 60? Are they insane? That is harassment!), but more with the school and the schools staff, especially the principle of that school who is in charge. If they want to find out what is going on in their school be more in touch with their pupils, and if they are not more in touch, then what are they there for? They are no different from an ordinary school which I say as a bad thing.

Now this case happened a while ago and I hope that soon after there were some major changes in the school staffing so that the right people be put in the right places, as this case really highlights how the school is lacking when it comes to teacher/child relationships which should be far closer in special schools then in ordinary schools. They should know their pupils better then that, and for them to later try to prevent him returning to sit his exams, after HEARING the case and what happened, and knowing their pupils vunerability is the largest concern of all in this entire case!
If the school principle and teachers were judged on every little error of judgment that they had ever done in the same way I don't think anyone of them would still be in a job, which goes to show that under pressure we make mistakes, and sometimes we make them when not under pressure. We should allow for mistakes to be made as that is how we learn. We do not properly learn until we make mistakes and be given a chance to correct our mistakes or being shown how to correct our mistakes.

I think teachers are sometimes able to do this. But a lot of times, just with five or six classes of 25 students each, a lot of situations and even a lot of living, breathing persons just are overlooked.

In general with so-called schools, we have created a “Lord of the Flies” type of situation in which the kids run the whole social and hierarchy side, and do a lot of mean and stupid things we don’t even know about.

The parents sued the police for damages they caused. Boy was left with PTSD and regressed because he now had trust issues and will have more issues making friends.

I read lot of towns had stopped this program because special ed kids were being targeted and that made me think if the police were too lazy so they used them because it would be easier to bust them for drugs. In fact it was unlikely that would ever do them in the first place. This is why this program doesn't work because of entrapment.

Oh I realize that. But it was more that AFTER the truth was found out that the school decided to try to stop him going there, when it was the school who indirectly set him up. Why I feel that any school principle who had the cheek to then after KNOWING what had happened, to try to stop the kid from completing his exams and education.... Such a person should be thrown out of the education system because they are thinking more about the social standing of the school then the pupils.

The police methods have a lot to be desired, but it is the school I am shocked with. Their response to it. It is the school who should be taken on for their decision not to let him back after hearing the truth of what had happened. This sucks.

Yeah I was reasonably open-minded and 50/50 about the whole story right up to the 60 texts bit.

60 text messages in a row? I wouldn't have supplied the undercover Officer with drugs, I'd more likely have shot him for the constant harassment.

The Police and the School seem very keen to wreck this kid's entire life for no good reason.

And the school KNEW about it when it was all exposed but decided not to let him back for his final exams due to their anti drug policy. Where is their anti bullying and anti harassment policy? The principle of the school who made this decision after the truth came out should not be allowed back, not the pupil. The principles actions sucked... Because they knew he was autistic. Even an NT child would have eventually done what the police officer asked after so much manipulation. (Most NT adults who had nothing to do with drugs would very likely try to help out in that way if they were desperately lonely. The method stinks because those who supply drugs would have supplied him during the first few attempts as it is their way of funding their habbit).

I feel sorry for that young man. He's going to have trust issues for the rest of his life.