Horry Schools security officer framed student of making bomb threat, dad claims in suit
The father of a Myrtle Beach High School student falsely accused of making a bomb threat is suing a security company whose employee was eventually charged in the case.
Coty Allen Kennedy, 20, was arrested March 24 for fabricating a bomb threat at the school, according to Myrtle Beach Police. Police said that Kennedy had turned in a note with the threat to a school administrator, claiming he found it on the ground, according to a police incident report.
Kennedy, who was employed at the high school through Allied Universal Security as a security officer, placed the bomb threat on the hallway floor near the student, identified as “M.C.,” according to the lawsuit filed by Craig Crook. This caused school administration to believe that the student, who was 16 at the time, was responsible for the bomb threat, and he was publicly removed from his classroom by the assistant principal and school resource officer, the suit states.
For 90 minutes, the student was in custody and interrogated by administrators without his parents present, according to the suit.
Kennedy intentionally targeted the student for retaliation, the dad alleges, although the complaint does not expand on that claim.
Allied Universal Security, which has local offices in Myrtle Beach and Murrells Inlet, was negligent in its hiring of Kennedy and its failure to train or supervise its employees, the suit adds.
A phone call to Allied Security was not immediately returned Monday.
Kennedy was a newly assigned, unarmed security officer at the high school, according to a March email statement from Horry County Schools spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier.
Kennedy had been previously terminated as a security officer with another security company in May 2022, according to the complaint.
Kennedy also engaged in inappropriate conduct with students, including regularly vaping with minor students in the school bathrooms, the suit states.
The plaintiff is asking for judgment against the defendant for an amount to be determined by a jury based on the student’s mental anguish, emotional distress and injury to his reputation.
James B. Moore III of Evans Moore law firm in Georgetown, who represents the plaintiff, said Monday that the family wants answers and haven’t been able to get them from the security company or the school. “Their child has been injured as a result of this,” Moore said.
While the incident is not something that happens regularly, Moore said that the family wants to clear the student’s name and prevent this type of conduct from happening in the future.
“We believe that if you’re going to hire an officer and put him in a school setting to interact with children and protect children, they really need to vet the individuals they put in these positions,” Moore said.
Kennedy was released on a $5,000 bond pending trial. Kennedy’s attorney David Rigney said Monday that he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 12:39 PM.
