BOSTON (AP) – Federal authorities on Thursday arrested a woman accused of making a fake bomb threat at Boston Children’s Hospital amid a flurry of harassment and threats of violence on her surgical program for transgender youth.
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Catherine Leavy, 37, was arrested at her home in Westfield, Massachusetts, and authorities recovered the phone they believed she had used to threaten the bomb on Aug.30, Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael told reporters. Rollins.
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The caller said: “There is a bomb on the way to the hospital, it is better to evacuate everyone, sick,” according to court documents. The threat resulted in the closure of the hospital and no explosives were found.
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Leavy initially denied threatening during an interview Thursday with FBI agents, according to court documents. After the agents told her that the phone records indicated that her number was threatening her, she admitted that she did, she wrote an agent in the court records. She “expressed disapproval” of the hospital “on multiple occasions” during the interview, the officer said.
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Leavy is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Friday in federal court in Boston, Rollins said. She is accused of a false telephone bomb threat count. It was not immediately clear on Thursday whether she had a lawyer to comment on her name.
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Rollins did not comment directly on the alleged plea in the Leavy case. But he condemned the wave of attacks on Boston Children’s Hospital, which is home to the first pediatric and adolescent transgender health program in the United States.
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“This alleged conduct is disturbing to say the least,” Rollins said. “The people who work at the Children’s Hospital and the parents who take their loved ones to the Children’s Hospital are quite stressed out,” she said.
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The FBI announces the arrest of Catherine Leavy for threatening a bomb against Boston Children’s Hospital.
The threat came amid a wave of bullying against the hospital after its gender-affirming care center became the focus of conservative media attention. pic.twitter.com/eiHbZBmrT3
– The Count (@therecount) September 15, 2022
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Boston Children’s Hospital thanked the police for their work on the case.
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“We will continue to focus on providing the highest quality care and working with local, state and federal law enforcement and our security and emergency response teams to ensure the safety of everyone in our hospital,” said the hospital. in a note. send via email. . “We remain firm in our commitment to support transgender patients, their families and the LGBTQ + community.”
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The hospital became the hub of far-right social media accounts, media and bloggers last month after finding informative YouTube videos posted by the hospital about surgical offers for transgender patients. The hospital quickly removed the videos.
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Transitional treatment is under attack in many states, with some labeling it as a form of child abuse or banning Medicaid coverage. Critics argue that safety must be well established before subjecting young people to potentially irreversible treatment.
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But many medical groups support the authorization of different types of medical care for transgender youth, citing evidence that it can improve their well-being, although rigorous long-term research into benefits and risks is lacking.
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Critics cited the aforementioned videos and language on the hospital’s website to claim that Boston Children’s Hospital was improperly performing gender-affirming surgeries, such as hysterectomies, on minors and toddlers.
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The response was swift and relentless, with a flurry of users calling for the hospital to be closed and calling the clinics mutilation, barbarism and child abuse, while accusing their doctors of committing negligence or illegal activities.
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FBI Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta on Threats at Boston Children’s Hospital for Providing Gender-Affirming Care: “There have been more than a dozen separate threats, and as I said before, we treat them as a top priority. and we’ll run them and we’ll review each of them below. pic.twitter.com/YFsjiohCOg
– Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) September 15, 2022
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The hospital has updated the language on its websites to emphasize that to qualify for most gender-affirming surgical procedures, patients must be at least 18 years old and meet certain criteria, including undergoing medical and mental health assessments. intensive and send letters of support.
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Far-right social media accounts and outlets have also targeted hospitals in Pittsburgh, Phoenix, and other major cities for their gender-sensitive programs.
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