Story Archive

Zero Tolerance Squared

When a 4-year-old girl named Neaveh drew a picture of a man with a gun at her Kitchener, Ont., Canada, school she wasn’t arrested — her father was. “That’s my daddy’s,” the tyke had told school officials. “He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters.” The arrest was defended by the school, the police, and child welfare officials. “From a public safety point of view,” said Family and Children’s Services chief Alison Scott, “any child drawing a picture of guns and saying there’s guns in a home would warrant some further conversation with the parents and child.” But it’s not clear that there was any conversation with Jessie Sansone, 26, before he was confronted by three police officers at the school, hauled away in handcuffs, strip-searched, and charged with “possession of a firearm.” Sansone’s other children were interviewed by Scott’s department, and a search of their home found no firearms — although one toy gun was found, which apparently was the model for the drawing. Police dropped charges and Sansone was released, but Scott said Family and Children’s Services was “still investigating.” (AC/Kitchener Record) ...The next day, Neaveh drew an empty skull and explained: “That’s Alison Scott’s. She uses it to bully good guys and daddies.”