Teen who was reported to the police and fined $25 for secretly filming his bullies sues school staff who handed him in



Christian Stanfield, 15, made a seven-minute recording of alleged bullies at Pennsylvania's South Fayette High School in February



The ADHD sufferer said he did it after months of harassment



School officials accused him of wiretapping and called police

A court found Stanfield guilty of disorderly conduct and fined him $25



His family is suing the school district and appealing the judge's ruling

Stanfield's mom, Shea Love, is furious that her son, and not his alleged bullies, has been punished

A special needs student convicted of disorderly conduct for recording his alleged bullies while they tormented him, is appealing the ruling and sui ng the school district.

Christian Stanfield, 15, said he recorded his classmates in February to show his mother the extent to which he was being harassed at Pennsylvania's South Fayette High School.

But when school officials found out about the tape, they forced the learning-disabled student to delete it and reported the 'wiretapping incident' to police.



On March 19, a judge found Stanfield guilty of disorderly conduct and fined him $25 plus court costs.



His mother, Shea Love, wants to know why her son, and not his alleged bullies, was punished.



'The whole thing has been a horrible nightmare,' the 40-year-old told Tribune-Review. 'This whole ordeal has made my son miserable.'



Defending himself: Christian Stanfield, 15 (right) said he filmed his classmates allegedly bullying him in February to show his mother, Shea Love (left), the extent to which he was being harassed

Tribune-Review obtained a copy of the court minutes, including a transcript of the seven-minute recording Stanfield made.



In the video, one student can be heard telling another to pull Stanfield's pants down.



The teacher can be heard intervening, telling the students that they need to stop talking if their discussion isn't about math.

A few minutes later, a loud slam can be heard, followed by the teacher telling students to sit down.

'What? I was just trying to scare him,' one of the boys can be heard saying.

Suffering: Christian Stanfield, 15 (pictured) has claimed his tormentors Pennsylvania's South Fayette High School threw spitwads at him, hit his head with books, threatened to pull his pants down and verbally abused him every day for months

Stanfield - who has been diagnosed with a comprehension delay disorder, ADHD, and an anxiety disorder - told the court he made the recording 'because I always felt like it wasn’t me being heard'.



'I wanted some help,' he said. 'This wasn’t just a one-time thing. This always happens every day in that class.'



The teen testified that students slammed books across his head, His mother told the court that classmates threw 'spitwads' at her son.

'They were calling him some really bad names, talking about pulling his pants down,' Love told WPXI in March.



She also said she'd emailed her son's teacher several times between October and February, detailing his complaints.

Scene: Officials at South Fayette High School in Pennsylvania (pictured) accused Christian Stanfield of wiretapping when his mother showed them the video he took of his alleged bullies. They then called police

Questionable judgement? Upon learning about the recording, South Fayette High School principal Scott Milburn (pictured) called police, claiming there had been a 'a wiretapping incident'

On February 12, after hearing about the recording, South Fayette High School principal Scott Milburn and assistant principal Aaron Skrbin reported Stanfield to police.



They asked Lieutenant Robert Kurta to come to the school because they believed there had been 'a wiretapping incident'. State law generally prohibits secret audio recording.

School district officials forced Stanfield to erase the recording and ordered him to attend Saturday detention.



Kurta charged Stanfield with disorderly conduct, but didn’t believe that the incident warranted a felony wiretapping charge.



Kurta testified last month that he did not hear the recording but made the decision to pursue a summary charge 'because I believe that he committed a crime'.

Meanwhile, assistant principal Skrbin testified that the district had records of Love complaining about students bullying her son, including an incident in October in which a student hit her son with 'spitwads', even after her son told him to stop.

'To be blunt, I would not classifying that as bullying,' Skrbin said.



To Stanfield mother's shock, South Fayette District Judge Maureen McGraw-Desmet found the student guilty, fined him $25 and ordered him to pay court costs.

Milburn, Skrbin, Kurta and McGraw-Desmet have not commented publicly on the case.

The teen's attorney said the family plans to appeal the ruling and file a civil suit against South Fayette School District.

