A lady from Westfield, Massachusetts, was arrested on Thursday morning by the police for a hoax bomb threat. The lady is 37-year-old Catherine Leavy.
Catherine made a call to Boston Children's Hospital and issued a bomb threat. Later on, the call proved to be a hoax.
The hoax bomb threat call and how police traced Catherine Leavy:
On 30th August, a switchboard operator employee at Boston Children's Hospital got a phone call. The caller said that a bomb was on the way to the hospital and asked to evacuate the building as soon as possible.
The hospital authorities immediately imposed a lockdown in the hospital and the nearby area and informed the concerned officials. The agencies took notice of it and found out that the threat was a hoax and no bomb was there.
The call was traced from the phone number, and it led the investigators to Catherine. A police team reached Catherine’s house and started searching. They found the phone from which the call was made.
Earlier, Catherine was in denial mode, but when she was presented with proof, she accepted that she had made the call. But, she also said that she did not have any intention to harm the hospital.
Catherine Leavy was taken into custody by the police officials on the charge of one federal count of explosive materials for intentionally making a hoax bomb threat.
She was presented in front of the U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein on Thursday and then detained. The next detention hearing is on Friday. If the conviction is proved, then Catherine Leavy may get the punishment of up to ten years, a supervised release of 3 years, and a hefty fine of $250,000.
This is not the first time that Boston Children's Hospital has received such a threat. Apart from threats, the hospital also faced an unsuccessful cyber-attack back in 2021.
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