Skip to content

Mug shot of 9-year-old boy posted by Florida sheriff’s office sees swift, furious backlash

The unblurred picture of the child, who was arrested for allegedly threatening a classmate with a knife, was shared on Facebook by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Friday in a viral post that garnered nearly 50,000 comments and counting.

The boy was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill following Thursday’s alleged incident at a Crescent City elementary school.

The post detailed how the boy allegedly brought a pocketknife to school before getting into a fight with a classmate and later threatening multiple students.

But the decision to share the child’s name and photo online was condemned by the majority of the commenters.

“While I absolutely do not support his behavior or bringing a weapon to school, this is still a 9-year-old child. Arresting him, taking a mug shot, and publicly posting it like this can cause lasting psychological harm,” one Facebook user wrote.

“Since when does law enforcement show pictures of a 9-year-old child and give their name? I’m not condoning what the child did, but still, he’s a very young child,” a second wrote.

“Yall really posted this baby picture like this,” raged a third.

Despite the backlash, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says it publishes juvenile mug shots for felony charges for safety and deterrence reasons.

Today's News.
For Conservatives.
Every Single Day.

News Opt-in
(Optional) By checking this box you are opting in to receive news notifications from News Rollup. Text HELP for help, STOP to end. Message & data rates may apply. Message frequency varies. Privacy Policy & Terms: textsinfo.com/PP
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.