A Massachusetts woman was set to appear in court today after being arrested and charged in connection with a hoax bomb threat made against Boston Children’s Hospital.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 37-year-old Catherine Leavy was charged with one count of explosive materials – willfully making a false bomb threat. She was arrested Thursday at her home in Westfield, Mass.
NBC News reported that Boston Children’s is one of several children’s hospitals targeted for harassment by far-right anti-transgender influencers “with millions of collective followers who have spread misinformation about the hospitals’ gender-affirming treatment for minors.”
Boston Children’s has pioneered a Gender Multispecialty service for its patients.
“At Boston Children’s, we are proud to be home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States, the Gender Multispecialty Service (GeMS), which has cared for more than 1,000 families to date,” said the hospital. “We believe in a gender-affirmative model of care, which supports transgender and gender diverse youth in the gender in which they identify. This is a standard of care grounded in scientific evidence, demonstrating its benefits to the health and well-being of transgender and gender diverse youth.”
According to NBC News, anti-trans influencers have also waged anti-LGBTQ campaigns against schools and libraries. Charging documents for Leavy said that federal agents began monitoring threats made against Boston Children’s Hospital and its employees last month.
“There is a bomb on the way to the hospital, you better evacuate everybody you sickos,” said a telephonic message the hospital received Aug. 30. After the call, the hospital and surrounding area was put on lockdown and a bomb squad was dispatched. However, an investigation found no explosive devices at the hospital.
“Law enforcement obtained subscriber and call detail records and location information for the phone number that called-in the bomb threat,” said the Justice Department. “Records obtained allegedly indicated the phone number was subscribed in Leavy’s name and that it pinged off a cell tower nearby Leavy’s residence at the time the bomb threat was made.”
A search of Leavy’s home pursuant to a federal search warrant led to the discovery of the phone used to make the threat.
Making threatening communications in interstate commerce charges could put Leavy in prison for 10 years, in addition to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
“Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case,” said the Justice Department. It noted that “the details contained in the charging documents are allegations,” and that Leavy can be “presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
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