Three middle schoolers in Calvert County face hate crime charges

According to the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office, three 13-year-old students at Plum Point Middle School in Huntingtown have been charged as juveniles with harassment and violations of Maryland’s hate crimes statutes. The state’s attorney’s office released the information Friday afternoon.

According to charging documents filed by the Maryland State Police, the students displayed swastikas, made Nazi salutes and directed offensive comments to a classmate because of the classmate’s religious beliefs.

The state’s attorney’s office press release stated the behavior began last December and “continued over several months despite repeated requests to stop.”

The matter was reported to the state police, who investigated and filed the charges against the juveniles. The press release does not report the names or genders of the charged students. The charges will be forwarded to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services for appropriate action. That entity has the discretion to refer the charges to the Calvert County Circuit Court for a hearing. The state’s attorney’s office then would be required to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.

A call to Calvert County Public Schools administration for comment and the status of the students charged has not been returned Friday afternoon.

Calvert County State’s Attorney Robert Harvey (R) issued a statement Friday.

“Maryland was founded on the principle of religious toleration,” Harvey said in the statement. “It is frankly astonishing that nearly 400 years later some people continue to persecute others based upon their religion. I call upon parents, educators and community and faith leaders to make sure that our children know that religious persecution has no place in our society.”