Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott announced this week that he would file no charges against the students that bullied 16-year-old Channing Smith just prior to his suicide in September. Smith had been cyberbullied by the students, who outed him as queer on social media by posting a series of text messages he’d exchanged with another boy.
“My brother committed suicide because of the actions of 2 kids that he trusted that turned personal screenshot messages over to social media in a deliberate attempt to assassinate his character,” Channing’s brother Joshua wrote on Facebook just after his death.
Now DA Northcott has said he has no reason to file charges against Channing’s bullies. “Upon the completion of the full investigation into the circumstances of Channing Smith’s death by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department and this office and after a review of the criminal statutes of this state, I have determined that there is not probable cause to believe that any crimes have been committed in this tragic situation,” he said in a statement.
Related: Tennessee teen commits suicide after classmates out him on Instagram
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The announcement brought an immediate outcry from the Smith family, as well as from Channing’s supporters due in part to Northcott’s own anti-gay past. Last year, Northcott attracted criticism for making homophobic comments at a Bible conference. Video also surfaced of Northcott saying same-sex spouses should not receive domestic violence protections since those are designed to defend the “sanctity of marriage.” He also posted several anti-Islam remarks on Facebook, including likening Muslims to members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The revelation of Northcott’s remarks brought immediate calls for his resignation and ignited an investigation by the Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Responsibility. Northcott could lose his law license pending the results of the investigation.
That potential penalty would come as too little, too late for Channing Smith and his family. “Until those laws can be changed to make situations like this a prosecutable offense, people will continue to assassinate others’ characters online without fear of charges,” said Crystal Smith, mother of Channing. “That is unacceptable. No family should have to go through this.”
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I keep myself sane when hearing about things like this by figuring that there has to be a very dark corner in Hell for reprehensive repugnant scumbags like Northcott will they will suffer and writhe in agony for all eternity for the horrible miserable people ways they live their lives
rustyiam
Seek help before it’s too late!
Chrisk
rustyiam
I think just about everyone here feels the same of you.
DarkZephyr
@Rustyiam, you’re *evil*. You don’t care about the bullied gay teen at all. You only care about his bullies. There is no way you’re really a gay man.
Cam
@rustyiam We get it, you support people who want to harm LGBT kids.
Chipper
Its a shame that he died. Now the DA does not give a rats ass about helping the family. He might lose a few supporters. Shame on him. A family no longer has their son. and the bullies are free to do it again. Shame on the DA!
James Hart
Sad.
James
HOMOPHOBIC BIGOT DA SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED ANYWAY NEAR THE CASE. THIS IS NOT OVER YET. THAT DA HAS TO GO.
Chrisk
Damn. They directly caused his death. Manslaughter charges at the very least. The bigot DA no doubt thinks they did a good thing and why the f*ck head has got to go.
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
Its sad he had no friends to turn to. Had he at least one friend’s shoulder to cry on he probably would have gotten thru this.
Cam
Bigoted Republicans want LGBT kids to kill themselves. They don’t see anything that drives them to do that as a crime.