A Virginia mother is facing jail time after she put a voice recorder in her daughter's backpack in an attempt to catch the child's bullies in the act, CNN reported .

Sarah Sims' daugher is in fourth grade at Ocean View Elementary School in Norfolk, Virginia. When she told Sims she was being bullied in school, Sims went to the administrators, but said she got no response, according to CNN.

That is when Sims, 47, sent her daughter to school with a voice recorder in her backpack in hopes to catch the bullies in the act. The voice recorder sat in her daughter's desk all day before being confiscated by school officials.

Now, Sims has been charged with intercepting wire, electronic or oral communications, a felony, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. Sims, a student herself at Norfolk State University, faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the felony charge, CNN reported.

"I was appalled when I heard these charges," Sims' attorney Kristin Paulding said . "I was shocked to see that the school would decide to go to the police department and ultimately charge this mother as opposed to sitting her down and having just a simple conversation about what were her concerns and how could the school alleviate those concerns."

Sims told CNN she thought using the voice recorder would be a good way for her to "learn the environment." Paulding added, the recorder "was a way to make sure that that classroom was a safe place" for the child, but because it was confiscated, they will never know what it captured.

Virginia is a one-party consent state . It is legal for someone to record others when the person recording is involved in the conversation or when one of the parties in the conversation has given prior consent.