Jasper RCMP have charged a man with assault and uttering a threat following an online bullying incident involving an elementary student.
RCMP said the man was concerned about a youth in his family who was allegedly bullied online. The man approached the youth he thought was responsible for the bullying and an assault and threat took place, according to officers.
The man, Kris Beeby, told 630 CHED his little girl has been harassed by other kids for years. He said she was told by other kids online to kill herself.
Beeby said he complained to the school but felt his daughter wasn’t getting any help.
“I was sitting in my vehicle and I just thought, ‘enough is enough here.’ And so I went over to the arena. I had a conversation with one of the kids. I went over and had a conversation with the other kid. And gave them a verbal scolding is what I did!”
WATCH ABOVE: Kris Beeby said his daughter was harassed for years and after his complaints went nowhere, he took matters into his own hands.
Beeby said the charges were laid because he touched a kid’s jacket.
“I put my arm around him and said, ‘Oh, you’re the other kid I wanted to talk to.’ I walked him through a door, into another room. We weren’t alone, there were other people in there,” he said.
“I just asked him if he thought it was funny to tell people to kill themselves, and to tell a little girl to kill herself. I asked him if he thought it was funny to tell her to perform sexual acts on other people. And then at the end, I kind of grabbed the collar of his jacket and said, ‘Don’t make me come back here.'”
Listen below: Kris Beeby, who lives in Jasper, talks to Ryan Jespersen about the charges laid against him after he said his elementary-age daughter was bullied.
Beeby said one boy’s family came to his home later in the day and apologized.
Beeby was arrested without incident on March 4. He said he will fight the charges.
Police said the young person was not injured.
Jasper Elementary School was made aware of the situation. RCMP said they are working with the school and a community outreach team to address the online bullying.
Beeby is scheduled to appear in court on April 13.
With files from Eileen Bell, Ryan Jespersen, 630 CHED.