Mom fights allegations launched against special needs son

SPRING, TX (KTRK) -- A Klein ISD student with special needs is accused of threatening to bring a firearm to school. His mother claims that couldn't have happened, and that her son is the victim.

Nicole Loreth says her son, Gavin, has Asbergers, is bipolar, and has several other emotional issues.

Thursday, she and her husband walked him into the Klein ISD Police Department to face an arrest and criminal charge. The charge stems from a verbal threat he allegedly made against classmates at Kleb Elementary.

"They are claiming that my son said he was going to bring a gun. And they're saying he claimed he was going to bring it to school. My child has no access to guns. He has never done something like this," Loreth says.

According to a document she gave to us, the Manifestation Determination Review, he did threaten teachers in the days prior. In one instance he said, "I should stab her," and in another, he said, "I should just punch her in the face."

The Discipline Referral Form in this case makes no mention of a firearm. However, it does say "Gavin clutched a pen, raised it towards the students, and said he was going to stab them." He tells us it was self defense.

"Some kids started bullying me and stuff like that," says Gavin Loreth.

A district spokesperson says they are conducting a thorough bullying investigation. In the meantime, the Manifestation Determination Review that is completed by district personnel shows they determined his behavior was due to Gavin's disabilities.

"He's just a baby. And he's special needs, at that," Nicole Loreth says of her son.

The young man's mother claims administrators told her there would be no legal action. But in a statement to Eyewitness News, a district spokesperson says police are always contacted when threats are made involving the safety of other students. That statement continues to say district police reviewed the case with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, and that appropriate criminal charges were determined.

"I have to fight Klein ISD and prove that my autistic child did not do this," Loreth explains.

The district says this is Loreth's first time this school year complaining about Gavin being bullied.

She tells us she has a meeting with an attorney next week and plans to fight the charge.