After a 10-year-old boy was confronted by the U.S. law enforcement for having fake money, his mother is saying her "nightmare has come true."
Tiffany Kelly's son has ADHD, non-verbal learning disorder; he may also have autism spectrum disorder. When he expressed excitement about learning to count cash, the 43-year-old mom bought him play money to use from Amazon.
While the bank note looks similar to a U.S. US$ 100 bill, it has bright red Chinese characters near Benjamin Franklin and dark black dashes through the numerals to distinguish it as a phony currency. "I didn't think it would be a huge problem because there are marks that distinguish it from being real," Kelly tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
However, instead of researching Federal laws about fake currencies, Kelly let her son board the bus to his elementary school on 14 May with his fake bills. And, as Kelly explained in a Change.org petition, passed out the money to his peers "in an attempt for socialization."
The alert bus driver later found one of the faux bank notes at the bus depot. Believing the money to be counterfeit, the concerned driver and the patriotic bus supervisor called in local authorities. After reviewing surveillance footage showing the bill belonged to Kelly's kid, a police officer went to the child's elementary school to ask the fourth-grader some questions.
There, the principal and officer questioned the boy about the phony bills. The officer determined there was nothing to investigate and moved on.
Because of how the situation was handled, Kelly played the victim and race card this early and alleged that her son is the victim of racial profiling.
"My child’s right were violated because he doesn't understand the magnitude of what could have happened," Kelly says. "All children are the same but they are not treated the same, they are not disciplined the same. I'm angry that the people I trusted my son with, have proven to me that I really don't know who I can trust."
The arrogance of Kelly did not stop there after she sent the petition to the Montgomery County board of education, the school district’s superintendent, the director of transportation and the local police chief.
Fortunately, majority of the people in Montgomery County are not stupid. Only a measly 400 signatures were gathered by Kelly.
For Kelly's information, there was no right that was violated. There is no law against reporting a possible crime being committed by a child or adult. Also, the authorities are operating under the tenets of the law by following the standard operating procedure (SOP).
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) denies any wrongdoing. Captain Tom Jordan, the MCPD director of public information, says the department was simply doing its job, even going “beyond policy” to notify Kelly of the questioning after the fact.
Tiffany Kelly's son has ADHD, non-verbal learning disorder; he may also have autism spectrum disorder. When he expressed excitement about learning to count cash, the 43-year-old mom bought him play money to use from Amazon.
While the bank note looks similar to a U.S. US$ 100 bill, it has bright red Chinese characters near Benjamin Franklin and dark black dashes through the numerals to distinguish it as a phony currency. "I didn't think it would be a huge problem because there are marks that distinguish it from being real," Kelly tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
However, instead of researching Federal laws about fake currencies, Kelly let her son board the bus to his elementary school on 14 May with his fake bills. And, as Kelly explained in a Change.org petition, passed out the money to his peers "in an attempt for socialization."
The alert bus driver later found one of the faux bank notes at the bus depot. Believing the money to be counterfeit, the concerned driver and the patriotic bus supervisor called in local authorities. After reviewing surveillance footage showing the bill belonged to Kelly's kid, a police officer went to the child's elementary school to ask the fourth-grader some questions.
There, the principal and officer questioned the boy about the phony bills. The officer determined there was nothing to investigate and moved on.
Because of how the situation was handled, Kelly played the victim and race card this early and alleged that her son is the victim of racial profiling.
"My child’s right were violated because he doesn't understand the magnitude of what could have happened," Kelly says. "All children are the same but they are not treated the same, they are not disciplined the same. I'm angry that the people I trusted my son with, have proven to me that I really don't know who I can trust."
The arrogance of Kelly did not stop there after she sent the petition to the Montgomery County board of education, the school district’s superintendent, the director of transportation and the local police chief.
Fortunately, majority of the people in Montgomery County are not stupid. Only a measly 400 signatures were gathered by Kelly.
For Kelly's information, there was no right that was violated. There is no law against reporting a possible crime being committed by a child or adult. Also, the authorities are operating under the tenets of the law by following the standard operating procedure (SOP).
The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) denies any wrongdoing. Captain Tom Jordan, the MCPD director of public information, says the department was simply doing its job, even going “beyond policy” to notify Kelly of the questioning after the fact.