Teen commits suicide after Facebook Post

[Ugly1]

Just found this online while browsing the world wide web.

A family in Washington is convinced that their son committed suicide Sunday after learning that a local sheriff's department had cracked a joke about him on Facebook.

The Latah County sheriff's office in Idaho is being accused of driving 19-year-old Andrew Cain to kill himself after posting a message on its Facebook feed that read: "We have decided that Andrew Cain is no longer the Wanted Person of the Week… he is the Wanted Person of the Month of June. Congratulations!

http://www.dailydot.com/crime/teen-suicide-cops-facebook-joke/

I read through the article and a lot of the comments at the bottom of the page really took me by surprise. Some people were glad that this 19 year old killed himself, while others had feelings of sympathy. Personally I think it is totally unprofessional what the police did in this instance, and the comment by the sheriff was even more disgraceful.

One argument I see over and over in the other pages comments was that this boy led the life of crime and that he needed to pay for it. So be it with his life. What is making me doubt that line of thought is that this kid was only 19 years old. I was not a fully mature male at that age and was a short fuse as well. I had problems with the law and even contemplated suicide as an ends. Even though I had a past similar to this young boy I now work 50+ hour work weeks, pay taxes, am registered to vote and try to raise my two boys with respect and good ethics. If I would have taken my own life in those days, people would be saying the same piercing remarks that they have stated about the boy in said article listed above. I pushed through the pain, and it shaped me into a stronger example for my boys.

With that said, what is some of your perspectives on this instance? I understand the boy was wrong in jumping to such a hasty decision but do you think that we are better off without this maturing man in our society?

[Kowalski]

I heard about this to. What the Sheriff's Office did was just WRONG. And good for you for being a good example for your kids.

I agree with ya.....Not to mention, the things the boy was wanted for are not exactly breaking and entering, armed robbery, or rape. According to the article:

a number of arrest warrants in the Idaho county, including driving without privileges, possession of a controlled substance, and a third that police wouldn't divulge to the press.

Sounds like normal teenage stuff to me.

[Odds]

I think most of us over the years has had their run in with the law, no one's perfect, i for one would have laughed my ass off if they posted this about me. Probably would have printed and framed it. But this kid obviously had some issues, if it took this to kill himself, it could have been just about anything that would have done it. It's a shame, a young life ended by his own hand, but it's not the cops who are responsible.

[Beckys_Mom]

I fail to see anyone kill themselves over a joke... I think there is a lot more to it than a joke..By the looks of it, this kid already had a number of problems...I feel there is a lot more to this story than what was posted..

[Mr.United_Nations]

Seems like he was an emotional wreck before, and also its not even a threat to the boy

[Kowalski]

Here's what the Huffington Post said: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/andrew-cain-suicide_n_3503387.html

Latah County Sheriff Wayne Rausch sent his condolences to Cain's family and said that it wasn't appropriate to editorialize the Facebook message about Cain, according to KREM-TV. But Rausch also said he stood by the decision to post to Facebook about someone who has a warrant out for his arrest, adding "that [Cain] felt it necessary to end his life over facing consequences is tragic."

Cain's sister, Alise Smith, said on Facebook Tuesday evening that no one from the Sheriff's Office has yet apologized to her family.

Smith, who reportedly doesn't blame the Sheriff's Office for her brother's death, said that the same sheriff's deputy who made the Facebook post had also sent Cain a private message, saying, "If you turn yourself in, I'll give you a copy of the wanted poster," according to the Daily News.

"That's what was upsetting was that they were privately messaging him and harassing him," Smith said.

That is, just extremely unprofessional, I think.

[Lava_Lady]

Such a sad story... I agree that he probably had a lot of other issues but I would think by now that any public entity would know better than to make any such statements about any individual (period).

Aren't there enough reports of people being hurt on facebook then committing suicide? Do we need to keep having this happen for everyone to 'get it'?

It's truly frustrating and disappointing that a freakin sheriffs office would participate in such childish nonsense... even more disappointing to know that they have TIME to engage in such actions in the first place.

[Ugly1]

Such a sad story... I agree that he probably had a lot of other issues but I would think by now that any public entity would know better than to make any such statements about any individual (period).

Aren't there enough reports of people being hurt on facebook then committing suicide? Do we need to keep having this happen for everyone to 'get it'?

It's truly frustrating and disappointing that a freakin sheriffs office would participate in such childish nonsense... even more disappointing to know that they have TIME to engage in such actions in the first place.

That is a good point that I did not even think about. The police had to take the time out to create a wanted poster, send the boy pm's, as well as update their facebook page about said boy. That sounds like it would be a good bit of wasted time for the police being as there are some real criminals getting not the slightest bit of harassment because the police work needed to be done to find them is being invested into facebook.

[MiskatonicGrad]

So much for any campaign to end online bullying.

[aztek]

no one from sheriffs office will apologise , cops never admit their guilt even if proven wrong,.

[Mr.United_Nations]

no one from sheriffs office will apologise , cops never admit their guilt even if proven wrong,.

They did if you read above, but not the way everyone wanted it tobe

[Rafterman]

Perhaps if the family spent half the time worrying about his mental health than ya-ya-ing on Facebook, the kid might have gotten the help he needed.

Was the Sheriff's office unprofessional, yeah, I can agree with that. Did what they post rise to the level of "bullying" or harassment, definitely not.

[Lava_Lady]

Perhaps if the family spent half the time worrying about his mental health than ya-ya-ing on Facebook, the kid might have gotten the help he needed.

Was the Sheriff's office unprofessional, yeah, I can agree with that. Did what they post rise to the level of "bullying" or harassment, definitely not.

I had to go back and read it again more carefully to confirm that the family actually was on facebook "ya-ya-ing" posthumously. I'm sure the young mans family has a role in the issues that caused him to commit suicide but we'll never know the exact reasons he did what he did.

The issue here seems to be the unprofessional behavior of the public office. How can the community have trust in an office of law that engages in such childish behavior?

This particular incident might not be "bullying" exactly, but it is harassment. Did he deserve to be harrassed? I don't know... but, it seems like if they wanted to catch him so badly they could have gone out and simply picked him up instead of "ya-ya-ing" on facebook.

[Mr.United_Nations]

I had to go back and read it again more carefully to confirm that the family actually was on facebook "ya-ya-ing" posthumously. I'm sure the young mans family has a role in the issues that caused him to commit suicide but we'll never know the exact reasons he did what he did.

The issue here seems to be the unprofessional behavior of the public office. How can the community have trust in an office of law that engages in such childish behavior?

This particular incident might not be "bullying" exactly, but it is harassment. Did he deserve to be harrassed? I don't know... but, it seems like if they wanted to catch him so badly they could have gone out and simply picked him up instead of "ya-ya-ing" on facebook.

How is it harassment?

[aztek]

They did if you read above, but not the way everyone wanted it tobe

point me to it, cuz nothing above resembles that,

[Rafterman]

I had to go back and read it again more carefully to confirm that the family actually was on facebook "ya-ya-ing" posthumously. I'm sure the young mans family has a role in the issues that caused him to commit suicide but we'll never know the exact reasons he did what he did.

The issue here seems to be the unprofessional behavior of the public office. How can the community have trust in an office of law that engages in such childish behavior?

This particular incident might not be "bullying" exactly, but it is harassment. Did he deserve to be harrassed? I don't know... but, it seems like if they wanted to catch him so badly they could have gone out and simply picked him up instead of "ya-ya-ing" on facebook.

Is it really any different than the sheriff putting up a wanted poster in the saloon in 1880?

[SolarPlexus]

More **** will flow and all because of willingly putting your privacy on the line.

[Lava_Lady]

How is it harassment?

Well, it's harassment in the sense that the sheriffs office chose to repeatedly humiliate him on a social media site and via PMs. The person that did it, did it because he was getting attention for being funny and entertaining. The sister claims that not all the posts were regarding his "wanted" status but facebook and the sheriffs office have deleted the comments.

Also, no one has apologized to the family for the comments in any way shape or form according to what was reported in the article. Where did you see said apology?:

"Latah County Sheriff Wayne Raush added that it probably wasn't appropriate to editorialize Facebook messages about people with arrest warrants, even if the post was sort of funny.

Cain's family said that the boy suffered from depression "and a number of problems," adding that the sheriff's department has yet to do anything to apologize for the death.

On Tuesday, Cain's sister posted on Facebook that the sheriff's office had done more than just post about Cain's dubious "Wanted" distinction."

Is it really any different than the sheriff putting up a wanted poster in the saloon in 1880?

Yes, very different. It's now 2013.

[Odd Requiem]

That's Idaho for you.

Not even just Idaho, small town enforcement in general.

When that story was broadcast on our local news, they tried to play it out like law enforcement was trying to keep involved with the community via facebook. They didn't think "light fun" would turn anybody to suicide.

[Papagiorgio]

I fail to see anyone kill themselves over a joke... I think there is a lot more to it than a joke..By the looks of it, this kid already had a number of problems...I feel there is a lot more to this story than what was posted..

I agree.