Man shocked by arrest after daughter draws picture of gun at school

[Rod1960]

KITCHENER — A Kitchener father is upset that police arrested him at his children’s’ school Wednesday, hauled him down to the station and strip-searched him, all because his four-year-old daughter drew a picture of a gun at school.

“I’m picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I’m locked up,” Jessie Sansone, 26, said Thursday.

“I was in shock. This is completely insane. My daughter drew a gun on a piece of paper at school.”

The school principal, police and child welfare officials, however, all stand by their actions. They said they had to investigate to determine whether there was a gun in Sansone’s house that children had access to.

“From a public safety point of view, any child drawing a picture of guns and saying there’s guns in a home would warrant some further conversation with the parents and child,” said Alison Scott, executive director of Family and Children’s Services.

Waterloo Regional Police Insp. Kevin Thaler said there was a complaint from Forest Hills public school that “a firearm was in a residence and children had access to it. We had every concern, based on this information, that children were in danger.”

Their concern wasn’t based on the drawing alone, he said.

Neaveh, the child who made the drawing, also made comments about it that raised more flags.

Sansone thinks police overreacted. He didn’t find out until hours after his arrest what had actually sparked the incident.

He said he went to the school Wednesday afternoon to pick up his three children. He was summoned to the principal’s office where three police officers were waiting. They said he was being charged with possession of a firearm.

He was escorted from the school, handcuffed and put in the back of a cruiser.

At the same time, other police officers went to his home, where his wife and 15-month-old child were waiting for his return.

They made his wife come to the police station while the other three children were taken to Family and Children’s Services to be interviewed.

“Nobody was given any explanation,” said his wife, Stephanie Squires., said. “I didn’t know why he was being arrested.

“He had absolutely no idea what this was even about. I just kept telling them. ‘You’re making a mistake.’ ”

At the police station, Sansone talked to a lawyer who said only that he was being charged with possession of a firearm, Sansone said.

He kept asking questions. He was given a blanket and told he would appear before a judge in the morning to post bail.

“I was getting pretty scared at that point,” Sansone said. “It seemed like I was actually being charged at this point.”

He was forced to remove his clothes for a full strip search.

Several hours later, a detective apologized and said he was being released with no charges, Sansone said.

The detective told him that his four-year-old daughter had drawn a picture of a man holding a gun. When a teacher asked her who the man was, the girl replied, “That’s my daddy’s. He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters.”

“To be honest with you, I broke down,” Sansone said. “My character got put down so much. I was actually really hurt, like it could happen that easy.

“How do you recognize a criminal from a father?’’

He said he thought he had good relations with the principal who offered him a job last year counselling students at the school.

“We’re educated,’’ he said. “I’m a certified PSW and a life issues counsellor. I go into schools to try to make a difference.’’

After he was released, Sansone was asked to sign a paper authorizing a search of his home. He signed, even though he didn’t have to., he signed.

“I just think they blew it out of proportion,’’ said his wife., Stephanie Squires. “It was for absolutely nothing. They searched our house upside down and found nothing. They had the assumption he owned a firearm.

“The way everything happened was completely unnecessary, especially since we know the school very well. I don’t understand how they came to that conclusion from a four-year-old’s drawing.’’

Scott, of Family and Children’s Services, said the agency was obligated to investigate after getting a report from the school.

“Our community would have an expectation if comments are made about a gun in a house, we’d be obligated to investigate that to ensure everything is safe.”

If there’s a potential crime that’s been committed, the agency must call in police, she said

“In the end, it may not be substantiated. There may be a reasonable explanation for why the child drew that gun. But we have to go on what gets presented to us.

“I’m sure this was a very stressful thing for the family,” she acknowledged.

The school principal, Steve Zack, said a staff member called child welfare officials because the law requires them to report anything involving the safety or neglect of a child.

The agency chose to involve police, he said.

“Police chose to arrest Jessie here. Nobody wants something like this to happen at any time, especially not at school. But that’s out of my hands.”

Sansone says he got into some trouble with the law five years ago, and was convicted of assault and attempted burglary. But he’s put all that behind him. He never had any firearms-related charges.

As for the strip search, Thaler said it was done “for officer safety, because it’s a firearms-related incident.

“At the point in the investigation when it was determined it was not a real firearm, the individual was released unconditionally,” he said.

dwood@therecord.com

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/...-on-gun-charge

Un-f'n-believable! Has it really gotten this bad!?! Back in '73 I took a hunter safety course IN SCHOOL and the instructor brought real guns INTO the school and now this! My 10year old daughter is getting her own .22 for her birthday in April....may as well turn myself in now......

[vcmm]

Welcome to CANUKISTAN

[gunmum]

This is disgusting, makes me sick

[BeeGuy]

probable cause?

[alacringa]

What a pile of...er...um...poop. The guy should be able to take legal action, but I'd wonder if he could be successful? Since when is possession of a firearm a crime? Maybe if it was possession without a permit, but that isn't stated...and this could happen to any guy on here, who has young kids...which is absolutely ridiculous, since most are very careful to store their firearms in a safe (and legal) location.

[BeeGuy]

Anyone else worried about the continued development of a police state in this country?

I didn't realize that testimony from a 4 year old carried such weight.

JFC

[CaberTosser]

Those school and child welfare administrative whack jobs need a serious education. If they had their way every rural father would literally be in leg-irons!

Even if the child hadn't completely made it up, it could have been a plastic gun for shooting the TV in video games, a fly swatter launcher or a plastic martial arts training dummy gun. My son's just about 4 and he'll tell me it's hot outside when it's -20 outside he doesn't want to put a coat on. These social services people need serious retraining, if not outright replaced with someone whose IQ exceeds that of an amoeba.

[Rod1960]

Originally Posted by BeeGuy

probable cause?

Because the antis and politicians have their kindred spirit whipped into such a frenzy with their fear mongering and lies that even a drawing by a 4 year old gets a man arrested.

[vcmm]

It's like living in a Dictatorship

[Dacotensis]

In 2009 I was going through a bilaterall custody assesment. (Seperation).
My son 5.5 at the time had been given a few firearms by my uncle, my sons 2nd uncle.
It's been a tradition with all of his neices and nephews-one of the by-products of pioneering stock I guess.
Anyway, my sone was aware that he had a 22 and a shotgun given to him, so like all 7 yr olds he talked about it to friends at school.
I had to tell him that there were some things that shouldn't be talked about at school as others may not understand the use of a firearm and what they mean to alot of ppl.
So, off he goes to tell his mom what I told him. She seized this opportunity to tell the psychologist that I am teaching him to keep secrets and compartamentalize(did I spell that right?).
When the wretched shrink confronted me about this I told her that I was not teaching him to keep secrets but rather to choose who he talks to about these things, afterall I don't want to deal with a potential breakin or whatever else.

It didn't matter to her. She chose to put the part about me "teaching" my son to keep secrets but did not elaborate what the subject matter was. I no like her! It was used against me.
She was also adamant that no 7 yr old should be going hunting. She insisted that she had talked to several males in her field of work and they all insisted they would never take a young child hunting.

No, if the law met me at a school and asked me to consent to searching my house I suspect there would be verbal diatrabe unleashed on said person.
So many times evidence is gained through illegal search warrants. case is dropped but by then its too late. Media gets ahold of it and they never follow up on the outcome of the story. Just sensationalize the story. BAD Gunman.
WTH is a gunman?
I get pizzed when I here this type of shat.

[Kevwood]

Sansone says he got into some trouble with the law five years ago, and was convicted of assault and attempted burglary. But he’s put all that behind him. He never had any firearms-related charges.

Could the above have had some influence on the action taken?

[alacringa]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Those school and child welfare administrative whack jobs need a serious education. If they had their way every rural father would literally be in leg-irons!

I will only say that my only experience dealing with child and family services, here in Alberta, completely destroyed my faith in the system. Aside from saying that the incident itself did not involve me, personally, I cannot (and will not) go into further detail.

[TapRoot]

I cant wait to have kids and teach them gun safety at the earliest possible age. That way when some ignorant teachers irrational fear of dangerous things gets in the way of practical fire arms education or discussion my young child would be able to school them on the topic.

[rugatika]

Wow....that is some very very scary stuff.

This should be front page news across Canada. I can't believe they asked him to sign, giving them permission to search his house, and then he actually signed it. Just goes to show how much stress the police can put on an innocent person. No criminal in his right mind would ever grant police permission to search their house.

The police powers have gone way tooooo far. Police have too much power, that they don't need. It's not the catching of criminals that is hard in Canada, it's keeping them in jail.

Sorry, but there should be heads rolling in this case. Right from the school to the police. Totally unacceptable in a so called "free" country.

[Twisted Canuck]

That is absolutely insane......if that were to happen to me, I'd lawyer up and there would be serious hell to pay. I can't even beging to wrap my head around him allowing a search of his home with no probable cause, and no warrant. Un-fricken-believable George Orwell!

Funny, because here, my kids take an 'outdoor education' class, and they learn quite a bit of useful stuff, like archery (which I am involved with, as they bring them out to our club so I am RO and help coach), but also they take them out to the gun range to shoot .22s. When my daughter went, the RO there was so impressed with her shooting, he started asking her questions, and she told him all about our shooting together etc, so he let her shoot his 9mm pistol (the only student he did that with). Then today, my 13 yr old son comes home, and he is upset because his teacher was giving instruction on gun safety, and my son knows this stuff down pat from myself and the CFSC manual. When teacher asked him about first step of gun safety when picking up a firearm (knowing John shoots with me), he said 'assume it's loaded, muzzle control, finger off trigger, safe the firearm (check to see if it is loaded/unloaded)....anyway, the teacher told him he was wrong, that the first thing you do is check to see if it is loaded.....seems if you are teaching gun safety, you should know what you are talking about.....kind of off topic, but the difference between what happened in that school, and that they are teaching gun safety (sort of) in my kid's school makes me glad I live here, where there is a strong outdoor and hunting demographic.

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by Kevwood

Sansone says he got into some trouble with the law five years ago, and was convicted of assault and attempted burglary. But he’s put all that behind him. He never had any firearms-related charges.

Could the above have had some influence on the action taken?

Probably ... and with that ^, the authorites would have just cause.

Give yer heads a shake folks ... nuff said.

TF

[BeeGuy]

Originally Posted by TriggerFinger

Probably ... and with that ^, the authorites would have just cause.

Give yer heads a shake folks ... nuff said.

TF

Can anyone with some legal knowledge confirm that a prior is just cause in this case?

I can't believe it is.

Too bad he consented to a search.

[Twisted Canuck]

Originally Posted by TriggerFinger

Probably ... and with that ^, the authorites would have just cause.

Give yer heads a shake folks ... nuff said.

TF

I don't agree with you on that one. He may have had trouble, but a 4 yr old drawing a picture of a gun isn't just cause for arrest, strip search, and full house search....if it was justified, they could have gotten a warrant from a judge, instead of getting him to sign off on it. Obviously a judge wouldn't sign off on it. If the Children services people were really worried, and the police, they could have had him in to the principle's office for a one on one chat, not got all heavy handed on him. The man was innocent, the search turned up nothing, but his privacy and freedoms were totally violated because of some stupid gun phobia. I call BS on trying to legitamize it with a prior conviction.

Edit: OMG BeeGuy, are we agreeing on something here?!

[AB2506]

If I was a lawyer, I think I would be volunteering to file the lawsuit against this unbelievable behavior!

Even if they had a belief that he might have a gun, there was no need to arrest him. He could have been taken aside and spoken to. He could have allowed them to search his house and it would have been all over. If he didn't allow the search, a warrant could have been obtained.

Talk about overkill!

I think a lawsuit is advisable, and unless Ontario is worse than Nazi Germany, Sansone will be getting money from the government.

[BeeGuy]

Sansone does not appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I can not believe that a warrant would have been obtained.

I'd love to see charges filed against the individuals/institutions involved, however I doubt it will happen.

Sansone is already taking this much heat due to his prior.

They would really teach him a lesson if he challenged them in court.

[vcmm]

Maybe if a major lawsuit happened they might think about the GESTAPO tactics!!

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by BeeGuy

Can anyone with some legal knowledge confirm that a prior is just cause in this case? . . .

I can't believe you asked that ^ question ... the guy openly admitted that he is a convicted criminal of a violent crime.

Me thinks you have been eating too much honey lately.

TF

[twofifty]

Govt. institutions that blatantly abuse their power should be fully liable for the multiple harm they cause innocent parties:

- loss of reputation.
- humiliation.
- anxiety.
- possible loss of employment as fellow is a school social worker.
- unneeded overnight confinement.
- permission for an illegal search fraudulently obtained under coercion.
- freaking out his kids/wife and possibly causing them psychological damage.

Of course, some institutions have come to rely on the fact that most working folk do not have the monetary resources to seek a compensatory award in court. Their reaction is 'sorry, you're free to go now'. Geez, thanks, is about all we can say.

If institutions had to pay damages for their worse screw ups, there would be fewer stories such as these.

Or maybe it'd be cheaper to fabricate the evidence and preserve one's career. The justice/police systems have lost much of their credibility these past few years.

[New Hunter Okotoks]

It's a good thing the kid didn't draw a picture of an endangered animal;like a Grizzly Bear. LOL!!

This is just absolutely incredible. It really is hard to believe that not one person involved showed any common sense while this was going on. Not the Teacher,the Principal,nobody at Social Services and not one Police Officer said: "For Christ's Sake, a FOUR year old drew a picture of a gun, are we not over reacting here?!!!"
Her Dad uses them to kill "Monsters" should have been a tip-off. I guess maybe they didn't have their Top Detective around to figure that one out. Maybe the Cops were searching the house for dead Monsters just to make certain the Dad didn't hide any Monster Bodies.

No wonder some guys are paranoid when carrying their guns out to their trucks to go out hunting or to the range. Some over zealous neighbour might call social services because it's their "opinion" that Children should not be raised in a home containing firearms. Some parents could be in a very bad situation if a Social Worker had the same "opinion."

[CaberTosser]

I'm amazed that the authorities never had to arrest my Dad and try to find where he kept the sharks and intergalactic battle cruisers.

My 4 year old wears a foam sword and a hat with a feather and insists we call him 'Puss 'N Boots'.

[twofifty]

A single-mother friend of mine was investigated by Child Services because
the school noticed that her 6 year old's lunches did not fit the customary menu of jam on white bread, process cheese tubes, junk food treat, all chased with a can of pop.

The state can have a mighty heavy hand when common sense goes out the window.

[Rod1960]

[sarcasm]The registry should have told the authorities everything they needed to know[/sarcasm]

[thirty-30]

I'm really curious to see what dadof5 would say about this.

Someone should PM him and get him to weigh in.

It's entirely possible the police could well justify it but, I dunno.

Maybe he should give the guy a call :P

[Kevwood]

I agree with a lot of your comments in that this could have gone down in a more civilized fashion....but the kid draws the picture....the teacher hears it is the dad which uses the gun to shoot bad guys(and monsters lol)....she contacts the principal which contacts the police...which see he has a prior violent conviction...up to this point it seems status quo....then the part with arrests and social services and the searching of homes.........................glad I have no criminal record for when my daughters draw pictures of me hunting when they are in school...I can hear it now..."this is my dad, he has lots of guns and comes home with blood on his clothes all the time"

[vcmm]

If you think this is bad and it is. When they pass the new internet bill you might want to throw out your computer. Buy a new one and be VERY CAREFUL what you type