High School Prank Goes Awry

Tyell Morton, 18, from Rushville, Indiana may soon be putting away his school books and donning a correctional facility unifrom. The teenager is facing up to 10 years in prison after a senior prank went sour.

Morton thought it would be funny to leave a blow-up doll in the boys restroom at Rushville Consolidated High.

Wearing a hooded sweatshirt and latex gloves Morton slipped into the school after-hours, but was spotted by a janitor fleeing the scene.

When CCTV tapes showed someone entering the site with a package and leaving five minutes later without it, staff panicked.

Fearing explosives, school administrators locked down the campus in north Rushville for three hours and called in the police.

K9 dog units and a bomb squad scoured the building until they found the inflatable sex doll.

School administration did not find the prank funny.

Morton was arrested and, despite apparently immediately owning up to the charges, he was charged institutional criminal mischief, a class C felony offence that is punishable by a potential two to eight years behind bars.

He was also charged with the less serious offence of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanour.

After five days in jail, Morton was only released when his family satisfied a $30,000 bail bond by raising $3,000, mostly through donations from well-wishers.

Morton’s trial has been set to begin on September 13 in Rush Circuit Court.

A Facebook petition, ‘Free Tyell Morton’, has been set up for supporters and has so far got around 4,000 members.

Yes, I believe that the boy should be punished. However, making him a FELON for a high school prank that harmed no one is a little steep! That charge would follow him for the rest of his life, why not give him another chance?

Do you think that the charges are appropriate in this case?