PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — A 12-year-old girl is accused of “maliciously” impersonating a fellow student by creating fake Instagram and email accounts to threaten students and staff at their South Florida charter school.
Pembroke Pines police said Thursday that the girl sent threats to herself and others and then “intentionally lied to law enforcement” to frame a 13-year-old girl.
The older girl was arrested after the threats were made in November at Renaissance Charter School. At the time of the initial investigation, her family chose not to cooperate with investigators, according to the Pembroke Pines Police Department.
However, in December 2021, officers say the girl's mother began cooperating with investigators, leading them to apply for a subpoena for the I.P. addresses associated with the threatening messages.
This revealed that the initial findings that led to the arrest of the 13-year-old didn't add up. She has now been exonerated.
Once they had more information, investigators say they took “immediate and swift action."
The younger girl now faces multiple felony charges, including written threats to kill or do bodily harm and criminal use of personal information.
10 Tampa Bay's Andrea Chu contributed to this report.
