A Louisiana woman has been arrested for posting a video of a fight that happened at her son’s high school on social media, according to police.
Maegan Adkins-Barras, 32, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of unlawful posting of criminal activity for notoriety after she posted a video to Facebook showing a fight at Acadiana High School she got from her son's phone, the Scott Police Department said in a statement. Police said Adkins-Barras admitted to posting the video, which was "shared repeatedly."
The fight happened Tuesday in a common area of the school, police said. During the fight, one teen throws a punch at another teen, causing him to fall and strike his head on a concrete bench, according to police.
The injured teen was taken to a hospital for treatment and has since been released, The Advocate reported.
One of the teens involved in the fight is charged with second-degree battery, and the other teen faces a charge of disturbing the peace by fighting.
“Parents who receive information concerning criminal activity on school campuses are urged to contact their local police department or school administration,” police said in the statement. “Posting videos and photos of illegal activity on social media is against the law in the State of Louisiana.”
Adkins-Barras faces a $500 fine and up to six months in prison -- but criminal defense attorney Franz Borghardt told The Advocate that prosecuting Adkins-Barras may be difficult. The law she allegedly broke appears to apply only to "a person who is either a principal or accessory to a crime," he said.
Borghardt, who isn’t representing Adkins-Barras, said prosecutors will have to prove Adkins-Barras somehow encouraged the fight and that she posted the video to achieve notoriety or publicity.
"Just because you post something on social media doesn't mean you're looking for that,” he said. “You can share ideas and thoughts. I think they'll have a serious constitutional problem with this crime. I think it just smells of desperation in the sense that they're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole."
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