AMHERST -- Police are investigating whether criminal charges should be filed after the suicide of a 14-year-old boy who had complained in an online video about being bullied over his sexuality and who often alluded on his blog to killing himself.
Officials in the suburban Williamsville school district near Buffalo said they are cooperating with the investigation into the death of Jamey Rodemeyer, who had started his freshman year of high school less than two weeks before he died.
The state doesn't have an anti-bullying law, but bullies could be charged with harassment or aggravated harassment, Amherst Police Capt. Michael Camilleri said Thursday. The use of a telephone or computer would escalate the charge.
The boy had frequent meetings with school officials in the previous two years, when he was in middle school, and the school's social worker said he was always available, his mother said. School officials spoke with the bullies, but the taunts continued, she said.
Students in the district are encouraged to report bullying, and every report is investigated, Superintendent Scott Martzloff said.
In his video posted four months ago, Jamey said he was bisexual and described being taunted in hallways and receiving hateful messages online, "telling me that gay people go to hell."
After he hanged himself Sunday outside his home in Williamsville, Jamey's parents said their son had been bullied for years, even pushed to the brink of suicide, but that he seemed to be doing better since starting at his new school.
The boy kept a blog on which he referred to himself as gay and made frequent references to suicide and to his idol, pop singer Lady Gaga, who often sings about acceptance of gays and lesbians.
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