10-year-old boy held in detention center for sending joke message

• A 10-year-old child is taken in custody after texting a friend about pistols.
• The texts  were a childish effort at comedy.
• The kid is now being held at the Collier County Juvenile Detention Center in Naples, around 55 miles from his home.

A 10-year-old child is taken in custody after texting a friend about pistols. Investigators mistook the message for a threat to stage a school shooting.

When Daniel Marquez, a Florida man, was accused with making a written threat, a court ordered him held for 21 days.

Daniel allegedly sent three texts implying that he was planning a shooting at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral. He is a student there, according to authorities.

However, Daniel’s lawyer, Douglas Molloy, claims that the communications, which were written just four days after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, have been taken out of context.

Daniel’s horror began when the boy’s father reported the texts to the Lee County Sheriff’s Department. It then chose to use the full weight of the law against the honor student in elementary school.

Authorities say he sent a text message that said, “I bought these,” and included a photograph of four assault rifles before sending another text that said, “Get ready for water day.”

Following Daniel’s arrest, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office publicized his name, photo, and video of him being brought away by deputies, along with a warning that “false threats” have “serious consequences.”

Sources say, he is now being held at the Collier County Juvenile Detention Center in Naples, around 55 miles from his home.

Carmine Marceno, Lee County Sheriff, stated in a radio interview that his squad did not ‘wait one second.’ He added, ‘We investigate every threat as if it’s true.’

He explained, ‘I ran a campaign.’

‘Fake threat, real repercussions.’

‘While I believe the youngster is ten years old, his brain is still developing.’ He’s an adolescent.

‘I have to tell you, regardless of age, when a 10-year-old hits a trigger, the consequences are the same,’ the sheriff added.

The texts, according to Molloy, who is campaigning for Daniel’s release, were a childish effort at comedy.

‘Based on what has been provided to me, Daniel was messaging a friend and they were exchanging a stream of texts on a range of topics,’ Molloy said.

‘And within it was what I can only describe as a fifth-grade attempt at humor.’

He made an unfortunate reference to assault rifles, but only in jest, and not in connection with any kind of school shooting.’

The next chat the two had, according to Molloy, was ‘a little distanced in time.’ It was about the boy’s excitement for the Water Day celebrations, marking the end of the school year.