Maryland’s Montgomery County Police Department said Wednesday a 12-year-old child was behind a string of recent fake bomb threats to county schools, but said criminal charges cannot be brought because of the age of the suspect.

Multiple bomb threats were sent in to three Silver Spring schools since Oct. 12: Montgomery Blair High School; Oak View Elementary School; and Silver Spring International School.

Working with Montgomery County Public Schools IT staff, detectives said they identified the 12-year-old believed to be behind all seven threats. The child reportedly confessed, but also knew before making the threats that criminal charges could not be filed due to state law.

Under Maryland law, children under the age of 13 can only face charges for crimes involving violence. 

“It is disheartening to accept that the individual responsible for disrupting the educational process and instilling fear in our community was well aware of the legal limitations surrounding their age. … It is important to acknowledge the significant financial and operational burden each incident placed on our department,” Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said in a statement Wednesday.

In addition to the seven threats sent out by the 12-year-old, there were also threats sent to Rockville High School on Monday and Albert Einstein High School in Kensington on Wednesday. 

The Rockville High School bomb threat was determined to be fake, but police have not connected it to the earlier spate of fake threats. 

Officials at Albert Einstein High School moved to a staggered evacuation at 9:30 a.m., with students and staff cleared to return at 11:05 a.m. following a police search. Police have not yet revealed if the threat made to the Kensington school was real, nor have they connected it to the other previous bomb threats.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.