Police: 14-year-old Lehigh County boy charged with making terroristic threats

Lehigh County (WTXF) - Police say a 14-year-old Lehigh County boy is charged with making terroristic threats in the latest case of so-called "scary clowns."

According to police, the offending post went on Facebook Monday from a person identifying himself as "Danny Sosa: a.k.a. Killer Clown." The accompanying image showed a frightening looking character holding an ax. The message: "watch out Freedom high school and Liberty high school- we are coming" followed by emojis of a devil and a knife.

City of Bethlehem Police Chief Mark DiLuzio says investigators tracked the message to a computer used by the 14-year-old boy-- a student at Freedom High. He was arrested at his home Thursday night.

Parents say they are aware of the "scary clown" phenomenon that seems to have taken a hold on social media. This is just the latest of several local arrests of students trying to frighten their classmates.

Parent Debbie Barnes says of the arrested teen and others like him, "They must have something better to do" than use Facebook to scare their classmates."

Chief DiLuzio has a simple message for parents of kids who use social media to threaten others: "Monitor your kids' computer use. Don't be afraid to check out what they're posting and viewing. Act like a parent," said the chief, "Not a friend."

Police say they do not believe either high school school was ever in any real danger, despite the threats. The 14 -year-old will be prosecuted as a juvenile, according to authorities.