Massachusetts man sentenced for threats to bomb schools in four states

BOSTON (Reuters) - A Massachusetts man arrested last year for making a series of bomb threats to schools in four U.S. states in 2015 has been sentenced to three years probation, according to court filings.

Anthony Rae, 25, pleaded guilty in October to one criminal count of willfully making bomb threats, which came in a slew of emails to a Chicago elementary school and several East Coast public schools and colleges including North Carolina State University, Rhode Island College, and ITT Technical Institute in Massachusetts.

It came amid a wave of similar threats to schools across the United States including one that caused Los Angeles to shutter all of its public schools for a day.

Rae was sentenced on Thursday to time served, three years' supervised release and a $500 fine, according to court papers.

The principal of one of the school districts targeted, in Norwood, Massachusetts, said in an email to the court that a threat by Rae harmed the educations of some 3,450 elementary and high school students.

"Clearly some learning time was taken away from the students," Norwood High School Principal Jonathan Bourn said in an e-mail to the court. "The Norwood community will not be bullied by people who threaten our children."An attorney for Rae could not be reached for immediate comment.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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