What did Catherine Leavy do? Woman arrested for involvement in Boston Children's Hospital bomb threat hoax

Federal officials have announced that a Massachusetts woman was arrested in relation to a "hoax" bomb threat made against Boston Children's Hospital last month from her residence on Thursday, September 15, 2022.

According to Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins, Catherine Leavy, 37, of Westfield has been charged with one count of creating a false bomb threat with intent to deploy explosive materials.

Following the Boston Children's Hospital's gender-affirming treatment centre's attention in the media, there was a surge of hostility directed at it when the false threat was made.

Rachel Rollins described:

"It seems that this is happening all too often...that hoaxes are used to promote personal, hateful beliefs and ideologies. We will not stand by and allow this to continue."

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A deeper look at the Boston Children's Hospital bomb threat hoax

Based on multiple sources, Boston Children's Hospital received a bomb threat by phone, during which the caller allegedly said:

"There is a bomb on the way to the hospital, you better evacuate everybody, you sickos."

It continued:

"As you can imagine, this resulted in an immediate response by the hospital and local authorities and federal authorities."

Reportedly, the call was supposedly in connection with the hospital's gender multispecialty service, which the facility characterizes as the safe medical care it provides to its genderqueer and transgender patients and their families.

However, after the hoax was allegedly spread, lockdown was imposed at Boston Children's Hospital. In response, there was no explosive discovered by the police authorities.

Rachel Rollins said:

"Bomb hoaxes cause fear, panic and a diversion of resources that have a real impact on our communities. The people that work at Children's Hospital and the parents who bring their loved ones to Children's Hospital are under enough stress."

According to Rollins, investigators were able to link the bomb threat caller's phone number to Catherine Leavy's T-Mobile account. She said:

"She was arrested at her home earlier today, and the telephone used to make the alleged threat was recovered."

Additonally, Joseph R. Bonavolonta, head of the FBI Boston office, said in a statement at a press conference:

"Today's arrest should serve as a strong warning to others that making threats of violence is not a prank...it's a federal crime, and can carry up to five years in a federal prison."

Catherine Leavy was held in custody for a detention hearing scheduled for Friday afternoon after her initial court appearance on Thursday. She does not have a listed attorney in the online court records.

According to the Justice Department, the charge carries a potential term of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.