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Massachusetts man blamed for string of bomb threats in four states

A Massachusetts man was charged in federal court for sending four different bomb threats to four schools within the past year. 

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John Godbey/AP
Athens Police and the Huntsville Bomb Squad prepare to search Athens High School in Athens, Ala. after a bomb threat was received, Aug. 19. A Massachusetts man, Anthony Rae, has been accused of sending bomb threats to schools (not shown) in four states over the course of a year.

A Massachusetts man faces federal charges Wednesday after allegedly sending in false bomb threats to multiple schools.

Anthony Rae, a 24-year-old from Stoughton, Mass., is accused of sending threats through the course of a year to schools in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Illinois, and North Carolina.

Charges previously filed against Mr. Rae in the state court were dropped Wednesday and he was taken into federal custody. 

From Oct. 6, 2014 to Sept. 21, 2015, Rae used three different email accounts to send the threats, FBI Special Agent Jennifer Kleene wrote in a court affidavit. 

Prosecutors say Rae sent his first bomb threats last October, through two emails to an elementary school in Chicago, Ill. 

In March, an email from Rae mother’s email account sent to ITT Technical Institute in Norwood, Mass., (where Rae was a student) stating, “I will bomb your school ... just for my pleasure and fun,” Kleene wrote.

Norwood police executed a search warrant at Rae’s home in June, seizing numerous electronic devices. Rae was then arrested on June 19 and charged with three threats in his home state of Massachusetts, but he was released on bail with the conditions that he wear a monitoring bracelet and avoid electronic devices. 

Just one day after his release, investigators say Rae violated the conditions and sent in another bomb threat using a computer in his apartment complex, this time to Rhode Island College.

Prosecutors allege that Rae took extensive electronic steps to cover his tracks after sending the first three emails, creating a separate email account before sending another threat to North Carolina University. That message included a threat to bomb the school “at any time, day or night,” Kleene wrote.

If he is found guilty, Rae could face up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

This report contains material from the Associated Press.

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