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Teen Uses Facebook to Save Mom From Abusive Boyfriend

by Amar Toor on March 17, 2011 at 10:45 AM

Reggie LeAndrew HartA 15-year-old boy in Minnesota recently rescued his mother from her abusive boyfriend, not with a call to 911, but with a timely Facebook post.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, 33-year-old Kelly Heinl went out with some of her friends on Thursday night, but was soon tracked down by her boyfriend, 31-year-old Reggie LeAndrew Hart. Hart allegedly forced her to come home, where he proceeded to push her and pull out her hair. When her teenage son walked in on the scene, Heinl urged him to call the police, but Hart had already confiscated their cell phones.

Thinking fast, the boy persuaded Hart to return his cell phone, arguing that he needed to charge it for school the following day. Once the phone was safely in his hands, the teen decided against calling 911, for fear that Hart might hear him talking to the police. Instead, he used his mobile to access Facebook, where he posted an urgent call for help.

In a status posted around 2:00 a.m., the boy wrote: "would somebody please call 911 - my mom's boyfriend won't let her use the phone." He followed that up by adding, "This is serious." Fortunately, one of his friends saw the post, and immediately called police.

Authorities soon arrived and arrested Hart, who has denied any wrongdoing, and blames Heinl for the scuffle, claiming she was drunk. In 1998, Hart was convicted for murdering his cousin who, it turns out, was also the father of the 15-year-old who rescued his mother early Friday morning.

Heinl, meanwhile, remains grateful for her son's social networking acumen. "I'm very proud of him," Heinl told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I don't know that I would necessarily have thought of that."

Tags: 911, abuse, boyfriend, facebook, minnesota, police, SocialNetworking, Status, teens, top, Web

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