Folks may be charged for boy's hoax

The Coast Guard said the parents of a 7-year-old Maple Valley boy who placed two hoax distress calls Sunday could face federal criminal charges.

The child told authorities he made the distress calls over a marine radio while his father was sleeping, the Coast Guard said. In the first call, made around noon, the child claimed that he was drowning. In the second call, at 6 p.m., the boy said his boat was sinking.

The Coast Guard immediately knew the calls were phony because of the partial address provided by the child and a new technology, called Rescue 21, that can track the source of marine radio calls, said Petty Officer David Marin. He said because of the boy's age, any criminal charges resulting from the calls could be brought against his parents.

Penalties for placing fake distress calls have included up to six years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a $5,000 civil penalty, and possible reimbursement to the Coast Guard of the costs of a search. A Florida man was sentenced to pay $597,000 after he made a false report during Hurricane Alberto in 2006.

Rescue 21, a high-tech system of radio receivers, has improved the Coast Guard's ability to pinpoint the location of mayday calls from boaters, Coast Guard officials say. Radio towers are used to scan Puget Sound and adjacent waters, and each has direction-finding equipment that can locate the source of a radio transmission as weak as 1 watt and as brief as 2 seconds. The signal is picked up by two or more towers, and a computer homes in on the source.

"People just need to understand the severity [of making prank calls]," said Coast Guard Lt. Collin Bronson. "It's like dialing 911. You're pulling people away from a real emergency where they are needed."

In July, the Coast Guard spent $38,000 conducting a 12-hour search after receiving a hoax distress call from someone who identified herself as a 6-year-old girl and claimed someone she was with was in the water.

A plane, helicopter and boat were used to search south Puget Sound near Fox Island, where the call apparently originated.

No new missing-persons reports came to light during the search, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard is still investigating the July prank call but hasn't found the person who made it.

Information from The Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com