One mother is upset by the rumors started about her son that connect him to a discredited rumor about violence at Indian River Central School.

Tamara E. Pessah, Antwerp, said the rumors about a student bringing a gun to Indian River High School slanderously point fingers at her son, Bellamy R. Chae.

Bellamy, 15, is in the 10th grade.

“The tragedy in Newtown was horrific and should not be exploited by manipulative teens for their own for their amusement,” she wrote in an email. “My son, Bellamy, is being slandered and harassed — and the principal has even expressed doubt about my son’s safety.”

She worries about allowing her son to go to school on Friday for his own safety rather than for the safety of other students.

Bellamy has complained about bullying at the school. According to Ms. Pessah, when Principal Troy Decker asked who may have started the rumor, Bellamy was not sure, but said it might have been started by a student who says, “Die, Asian,” whenever he passes the Korean-American boy.

“I feel like the truth has got to get out,” she said. “There’s no truth to these rumors. My son is a wonderful kid. He’s really gentle and has a very kind heart.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer