Jamey Rodemeyer Tormentors Under Criminal Investigation

Police have begun a criminal investigation into the suicide death of Jamey Rodemeyer, the 14-​year old Buffalo-​area teen who was tormented by anti-​gay bullies for years. Local authorities say that while New York does not have anti-​bullying laws, there are other avenues, such as harassment, aggravated harassment, cyber-harassment or hate crimes laws that may apply. Reports state there are several individuals in particular that authorities are investigating.

WATCH: Anderson Cooper: 14-​Year Old Bullied To Death “Even In Sadness, Reaching Out To Help Others”

The Buffalo News today reports, “We’re going to look into whether he was the victim of any crimes leading up to his suicide,” Police Chief John C. Askey said.

“We’re not indicating, not speculating at this point, that that is the cause of his death, … but independently, there may have been crimes that have been committed against him.”
Askey said he spoke Wednesday with Williamsville School Superintendent Scott G. Martzloff, who has pledged the district’s cooperation.
Members of the public, including those from the school community, have reached out to police in recent days with information suggesting that Jamey had been subjected to what would amount to criminal harassment, Askey said.
“We’ve heard that there were some specific students, an identifiable group of students, that had specifically targeted Jamey, or had been picking on him for a period of time,” Askey said.
While investigators are focusing on what may have transpired in the recent past, he said, police are under the impression that one to three students may have been bothering Jamey since he was a student at Heim Middle School.
“We’re looking into it to see if he was the victim of any crimes, and that’s the bottom line,” the chief said. “We’re going to be speaking to school officials and students and anyone with direct information about crimes that may have been committed against this individual.”
Jamey’s mother had previously told The Buffalo News that she believed that a core group of middle school students bullied her son and that the situation worsened for him about a year ago, when many anonymous posts began showing up on Jamey’s Formspring blog stating that he would be better off dead.
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In a short YouTube video Jamey did in May, he expressed regret for creating the Formspring account “because people would just constantly send me hate.”
The anonymous posts included:
* “Kill your self!!!! You have nothing left!”
* “Listen to us, you’re a bad person, you don’t belong here, jump off a bridge or something!”
* “Go kill yourself, you’re worthless, ugly and dont have a point to live.”
* “You werent born this way. You shouldnt have ever been born.”
Seven months ago, in response to the Formspring question: What’s one thing people don’t know about you? Jamey answered, “How much I hate my life. Maybe it’s cause I’m bullied. a lot.”
His parents and friends said that it took a lot of work and encouragement to get Jamey through that dark period. Eventually, toward the end of last school year, Jamey stopped using Formspring altogether.

The Buffalo News also had published these comments from Jamey Rodemeyer’s FormSpring account:

“JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!” read one post.
Another read: “I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it  It would make everyone WAY more happier!”

“The Amherst Police Department’s Special Victims Unit has said it will determine whether to charge some students with harassment, cyber-​harassment or hate crimes,” reports ABC News. “Police said three students in particular might have been involved. Jamey was a student at Heim Middle School.”

Jamey had just started his freshman year at Williamsville North High School. (Both Amherst and Williamsville are just outside Buffalo.) But the bullying had begun during middle school, according to his parents. He had told family and friends that he had endured hateful comments in school and online, mostly related to his sexual orientation.
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“Justin was a smiley, happy boy who loved to play his cello,” said his parents. “School systems need to do more to protect LGBT students from bullying, and not turn their back on them because of their sexual orientation.”