Mother Of Teen Suspected Of Plotting Attack Charged For Buying Weapons

NORRISTOWN, PA. (AP) – The mother of a 14-year-old who authorities say had a cache of guns, knives and explosive devices in his bedroom for a possible school attack was charged Friday with buying her son three weapons.

Michele Cossey, 46, bought her home-schooled son, Dillon, a .22-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a 9 mm semiautomatic rifle, authorities said. The teenager felt bullied and tried to recruit another boy for a possible attack at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, authorities said.

His mother was not accused of helping plot an attack, “but by virtue of her indulgence, she enabled him to get in this position,” Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said. “This is not the best parenting I’ve ever seen and she needs to be held accountable,” Castor said.

Acting on a tip from a high school student and his father, police on Wednesday found the rifle, about 30 air-powered guns, swords, knives, a bomb-making book, videos of the 1999 Columbine attack in Colorado and violence-filled notebooks in the boy’s bedroom, Castor said.

The mother bought the rifle, which had a laser scope, at a gun show on Sept. 23 and provided police with a receipt, investigators said in court papers. The teenager said the two .22-caliber weapons were stored at a friend’s house.

She was charged with unlawful transfer of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a minor, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of reckless endangerment, and later released on bail. She did not comment at the hearing.

The teen, who also had a brief court appearance Friday, was ordered held at a juvenile facility while he undergoes psychiatric evaluations. He was charged with solicitation to commit terror and other counts, but his lawyer, J. David Farrell, stressed that all but one of the weapons prosecutors put on display were pellet guns and air rifles.

Farrell noted it is not illegal in Pennsylvania for a minor to fire a weapon under adult supervision and said he didn’t believe the students at Plymouth Whitemarsh were in any danger.

“They’re showing 30 guns on a desk that appear to be handguns and saying this was a Columbine in the making,” Farrell said. “That’s simply not borne out by the facts.” Authorities said Friday that the boy’s father also tried to buy his son a rifle in 2005, but was not allowed to because he was a felon, authorities said Friday.

Frank Cossey was sentenced to house arrest for lying about his criminal record when he went to buy a .22-caliber rifle for his son in December 2005, police said Friday. On his application he said he had never been convicted of a felony, but he had pleaded guilty in 1981 to manslaughter in a drunken driving death in Oklahoma and sent to prison, police said.

The teen previously attended middle school in the district but had been taught at home for more than a year after voluntarily leaving school, Castor said. Castor has said he does not believe and attack was imminent or would occur at all. He said Friday that the teen had a “disturbed mind.”

“This was a smart kid that clearly believes he was picked on and was a victim,” Castor said. “He had psychological issues and began to act out on those feelings.” The arrest came the same day a 14-year-old in Ohio opened fire at his Cleveland high school, wounding four before killing himself.

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press Writer

— Associated Press writer JoAnn Loviglio in Philadelphia contributed to this story.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)