A Buena High School student has been criminally charged after allegedly posting threatening social media videos, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The 14-year-old Ventura resident was charged with one felony count of conspiracy to threaten to commit a crime that may result in death or great bodily injury to another person at a school and one misdemeanor count of making a criminal threat, acording to the DA's office.
The minor was set to be arraigned Sept. 18 at the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Center in Oxnard, according to the DA's office. Juvenile records are confidential.
On the evening of Sept. 14, officers with the Ventura Police Department received reports of videos depicting Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat character
making threats toward Buena High School and its students, according to the department. The videos, the department said, appeared to be part of a nationwide social media trend, often involving AI.
During their investigation, detectives as well as school resource officers ultimately identified three Buena High School students as the suspects in creating and disseminating the videos, according to Ventura police.
Two 15-year-olds and one 14-year-old were arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats and conspiring to commit a crime, according to the department; two of the teens were also arrested on suspicion of destruction of evidence.
Only one of the minors' cases has been submitted to the DA's office for prosecution, according to the agency.
Makena Huey is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at makena.huey@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism. The foundation plays no role in story selection. The Star retains full editorial control.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura teen charged in connection with threatening 'Cat in Hat' video
