NAHS Student Arrested After Alleged Facebook Bullying

A North Andover High School student was arrested this week for bullying a classmate on Facebook and then in person.

The student, 16, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, is accused of violating a harassment order after posting "derogatory comments on a Facebook page," North Andover Police Lieutenant Paul Gallagher said.

The victim's family went to police last week and reported the harassment and got a harassment order. Police explained to the suspect the terms of the order, Gallagher said, but two days later the suspect allegedly made more derogatory comments verbally to the victim at school.

Police then arrested the suspect, and he was arraigned in Lawrence Juvenile Court Wednesday morning. Steve O'Connell, spokesman for District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office, confirmed the arraignment but would not elaborate on the charges since the case involves minors.

Social network harassment is a relatively new battleground in the fight against bullying. Lawmakers on Beacon Hill recently passed legislation compelling towns to crack down on cyberbullying -- harassment and attacks via email, social networking and text messaging -- and create solid systems for dealing with it after a high school student in South Hadley committed suicide after being bullied online.

Bullying and harassment cases in North Andover schools are usually not a big problem, Gallagher said, because the town takes proactive measures early on.

"The schools and police work very closely, and we usually meet with the victim and the person making comments and we try to work things out before it gets any further," Gallagher said. "We explain the consequences of violating a restraining order. When there is harassment, there will be an arrest."