Mom Admits Helping Son Build Arsenal

Bullied, Troubled Pa. Teen Was Building Grenades With Gunpowder Mom Bought, Planning School Attack, Prosecutors Say

(AP)  A woman admitted she helped her troubled, bullied 14-year-old son build a cache of weapons by buying him a rifle and gunpowder, but investigators still don't know if she was aware her son was planning a deadly school attack.

Michele Cossey, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Norristown to one count of child endangerment. She admitted that she bought him a rifle with a laser scope and gunpowder, which investigators said he was using to build grenades.

Prosecutors said her son, Dillon, came to idolize the Columbine High School shooters and was planning an attack last year on Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, which some former schoolmates attended.

Cossey, bullied over his weight, had left public school in seventh grade and was being home-schooled. Over time, violent Internet sites fueled his revenge fantasies, his defense lawyer said after his juvenile court plea.

Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Christopher Parisi said he thought purchasing the weapons was "an attempt to boost his self-esteem, and in some way help the child, as misplaced as those thoughts may have been."

Michelle Cossey's sentencing hearing won't happen until after she undergoes a psychiatric evaluation. The maximum possible prison term is 3½ to 7 years, but her defense attorney she could get less than a year - or even just probation - under sentencing guidelines.

Parisi said he doesn't know if Cossey knew about her son's attack plans, but that he hopes to learn that before sentencing.

"If it were to come out that she knew he was planning an attack ... that would certainly increase the severity of the crime," he said.

The judge who sentenced Dillon Cossey to a juvenile treatment facility, where he could remain until his 21st birthday, said that Michele Cossey had fostered a "me-and-mom-against-the-world" attitude in her only child.

Authorities did not think the school attack was imminent, but the boy did amass an arsenal - knives, swords, BB guns, the rifle and partly assembled homemade grenades - in his bedroom at his Plymouth Township home.

Police learned of the planned attack when Cossey invited a friend to join him. The friend went to police last fall.

Michelle Cossey has had twice-a-month supervised visits with her son, is missing him and wants him back home, defense lawyer Tim Woodward said.

"Her ultimate goal is to be reunited with her son," the attorney said. "She does admit that she made some mistakes."

[nagognog]

Well tootall - you have restored my faith, somewhat, that about 50% of the people are still sane. Good story. Now we see the bullies on the internet. A new social paradigm has been established - if you can make someone leave their computer in tears, you are the great hero! Phooey!

A bunch of us are trying to undo that idiocy and reverse it. Care to join?

[airboatboy1]

birdlikebld, I bet you got bullied and still are because if you have this much time to sit at your computer and ramble you obviously don''t have a life. Go try to make a friend.

[tootall10142]

I WAS RAISED NOT TO TOLERATE BULLIES.I SPENT THE BETTER PART OF MY HIGH SCHOOL YEARS WITH A PRIVATE TUTOR BECAUSE I WOULD ALLOW THW WEAK TO BE RIDICULED AND PICKED ON.THIS WAS A EASY TASK FOR ME AS I WAS 5FT 110LBS IN THE 5TH GRADE.BEFORE I REACHED MY SOPHOMORE YEAR I WAS 6-2 220 LBS. MY FATHER WAS A AIR FORCE PILOT HE TAUGHT ME THAT ALL IT TAKES TO BE A BULLY IS ABOUT 50 MORE POUNDS ALL IT TAKES TO STOP A BULLY IA ABOUT 50 MORE POUNDS AM IM COUNTING ON YOU TO BE YOUR BROTHERS KEEPER AND AS LONG AS YOU ARE RIGHT ILL BACK YOU ALL THE WAY.I NEVER PLAYED FOOTBALL BECAUSE I WAS TOO BIG.I NEVER RAN TRACK I WAS TOO BIG.I SAT WITH THE LITTLE PEOPLE, MY FRIENDS.

[myopinion1]

Then she should be charged equally. Her fat a.s.s son and herself should languish in prison forever for their rampant stupidity. WHY do we allow these people to walk around freely? Lock them up and throw away the key and put them on 1300 calorie diets. It''s obvious they were shoving their aggression down their throats. Take away what they really want and that''s food.

Billpl, I wouldn''t be surprised if you and your kind have your own arsenals.

[tootall10142]

AS THE ELDERS LINGERED ALONG THE PATH THE CHILDREN MOVE STONES TO THE SIDE TO MAKE THE PATH SMOOTHER. THE ELDEST GATHERED AND PACKED THE STONES ON HIS BACK AND IN HIS POUCH FOR HE COULD NOT SEE OVER THE RIDGE.THE OLD FATHER ASK THE YOUNG ONE . WHY DO YOU CUMBER YOUR SELF SO? TO PROTECT YOU OLD FATHER HE REPLIED.THE OLD FATHER SAID TO HIM , THERE ARE NO ENEMIES IN THIS AREA.THE YOUNG MAN REPLIED , OLD FATHER WE HAVE NOT BEEN TO THE TOP TO SEE DOWN THE OTHER SIDE.

[nagognog]

First concern: Is the kid on an SSRI antidepressant such as Prozac or Paxil? If so - like the Columbine kids and all the other ones lately who shoot up schools - look out! Those drugs make troubled kids open fire.

Second off - agreed. The school should be sued for letting this happen.

Thirdly: Mom is a piece of work and the apple didn''t fall far from the tree. That kid needs help and so does mom.

[billpl-2009]

I''m not seeing a crime here.

Every parent who gives a kid a firecracker should go to jail?

and just because they THINK the kid''s a wacko?

[voidmaster-2009]

PART 1:
Bullying has been around forever and it is not a confession in my case.

Posted by hbevis
***
When I say that such a phrase is a confession not an excuse, I address the tendency of so many to rationalize if not outright justify bullying by offering such excuses for it. As far as I am concerned, that mindset is the problem. Without it, bullying would cease to be. Just because it has been around forever does not mean that we should tolerate its continued existence.

At best, our society just looks the other way and at worst it encourages bullying. To correct the problem would require that we change that paradigm drastically. As I intimated in an earlier post, aggression and competitiveness are at the heart of bullying. And those mindsets are no longer necessary for human beings to thrive and prosper.

[voidmaster-2009]

PART 2:
As a society, we should see the school-yard-bully for what he is: a child desperately in need of rescue from an abusive home. When we think of child abuse, we usually think of some parent losing his temper and lashing out violently at his kid. But that is only the most obvious form of it.

If a kid is a bully, he is getting some bad information from someone he trusts or at least should be able to trust. Sometimes it comes from a parent deliberately instilling in the kid a sense of aggressiveness because he truly believes that it is best for the kid. Other times, it may be a matter of the kid merely overhearing his parent(s) espousing some insecurity or prejudice. The kid takes it to heart, believes it and then acts upon it, bullying some other kid that he has perceived to be of the ''type'' that daddy disapproves of.

The most difficult part in changing this is that there are way too many people who espouse such belief systems and actually do subscribe to them. In the end, the only real way to address the problem is not to prosecute the bully for being a bully, but to prosecute the creator of that bully for creating a bully.

[voidmaster-2009]

Only if we do the bullies as well. Fair enough?

[blackyowe]

Shoot the mother and the son.

[voidmaster-2009]

Just passing through to see if there is anything new; not much I see.

Mjm117, not sure what this cat lover thing is about. I had five of my own but recently had to put down the Old Man (a long-haired tabby of 18 years). So I guess you could say I am a cat lover. But I do not consider you an enemy ;-) I just think of the little guys as my babies.

[stn_sage]

It should have NEVER come down to this!

The school system, the police, county attorneys'' office, all failed this kid and his mom!

THEY should have acted to stop the bullying!

Don''t tell me the teachers and principal didn''t know it was going on! Sure they knew! And they should have stopped it!

On that basis, I think the court was too hard on them!

Officialdom''s FAILURE could have resulted in another trajedy---luckily it didn''t happen!

[hissteps4u]

I was bullied in school till I took a No bars hold against the guy who was bullying me. I grew a spine and stood up to him and broke his hand in a doorway. I was expelled for fighting but it was more than worth it. i then went to his Job and called him out to fight me he backed down like the coward he was. Never had a problem in school again.

These kids with ideas of killing need to get over it grow a spine and challenge their bullying people more than not they will fold like a houce of paper cards scared at any who would actually stand up to them as I did.

No excuse to kill, beat the crapola out of you bet, worth a suspension? You bet but kill No way they need to get a life and grow up.

A Mother that helps and fosters her sons ambitions to do physical harm like with guns and such needs to be in jail like her son....

[hbevis]

Comments like, ''''Bullying has been around forever,'''' and ''''Kids will be kids'''' are not excuses. They are confessions.

The greatest problem with bullying in this country is that it is accepted, at times even encouraged. Aggression and competitiveness served the caveman well. But are we not beyond that yet? Perhaps not.

I do at times believe that we are still cavemen. We just dress better.

Good night.

Posted by VoidMaster at 09:49 PM : Sep 23, 2008

I disagree with you.

Bullying has been around forever and it is not a confession in my case. I am talking about 1950 or 1951. I was fairly small for my age but for some reason the bully did not bother me. I knew him and I knew the boy that knocked him out on the playground.

The statement: "kids will be kids". Well, to me that is crazy. I have heard that a number of times over the years and it is just plain STUPID... I have heard it another way: ''boys will be boys".. That is stupid also, and just shows the mentality of the person making the statement.

[mjm117]

One last comment to you Voidmaster, maybe you''ll pick up tomorrow morning or later tonight. I have a strong feeling you and I are very similar. Like to play devils advocate, enjoy thinking on the other side of the fence from time to time. I in no way EVER believe that bullies are "just kids" or that kids that are picked on deserve it so to speak. I do believe however that everyone should be accountable for their actions. Whether you are a bulley or you are a kid planning on shooting a bulley. Whether you meant to strike the pedestrian while you were driving drunk or whether you die from heart failure because you are obese. Point being, you pay for your actions. And you do have some control over yourself. Everyone should show some restraint before commiting an act of violence, even if it is out of self defense. Punching a bulley is a bit different then shooting one and the consequences will indeed to prove that correct.

I sometimes wonder if I''ll ever get to bed...

[mjm117]

The comment you make to your ''''best friends out there'''' tells me I struck a nerve. Sorry, that actually was not my intent.

Posted by VoidMaster at 09:45 PM : Sep 23, 2008

One last comment, I can''t stay away! That wasn''t meant towards you. I''ve enjoyed debating with you. That was meant for Erasmus and all the other cat lovers I made enemies with... :)

Cheers and goodnight.

[cdfoxtrot3]

Rednecks! You gotta love ''em.

[voidmaster-2009]

Comments like, ''Bullying has been around forever,'' and ''Kids will be kids'' are not excuses. They are confessions.

The greatest problem with bullying in this country is that it is accepted, at times even encouraged. Aggression and competitiveness served the caveman well. But are we not beyond that yet? Perhaps not.

I do at times believe that we are still cavemen. We just dress better.

Good night.

[voidmaster-2009]

The notion of my being a psychologist is quite funny. I appreciate the laugh, mjm117. Though you certainly may pay me $200 an hour if you''d like ;)

No, I don''t pretend to know who you are inside. But I do know people and I would challenge you to find any qualified evidence to the contrary based upon anything that I have posted tonight. The comment you make to your ''best friends out there'' tells me I struck a nerve. Sorry, that actually was not my intent.

As for murdering someone, yes that is sick. But I would not consider shooting someone who was chasing me for the purpose of doing me harm to be murder. Self-defense is more accurate. As for the kid in this story and his intent to commit murders, I don''t think his being a sick individual was ever in question.

Good night, and good life.