Father charged in handgun case

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Father charged in handgun case Thursday, March 14, 2002By ELIZABETH ZUCKERMAN LONGMEADOW - The father of a third-grader who took two unloaded handguns to the Wolf Swamp Road School on Tuesday is facing charges, police said yesterday. James Sotiropoulos, 39, of 55 Cambridge Circle is charged with improper storage of firearms and failure to have the proper permit. He is scheduled to appear on May 7 in Springfield District Court. Police said the child found the guns in his house. Sgt. Robert R. Danio said yesterday that police have more work to do regarding the boy. "We'll make a determination after that as to whether anything will be filed in Juvenile Court," he said. Police said the family inherited the weapons, both semi-automatic pistols. There was no ammunition in the house. "There was no evil intent here," said Danio. "(Sotiropoulos) wasn't trying to circumvent any kind of laws. He just had his head in the sand with regard to this." In a recent high-profile firearm case, Easthampton Police Chief Robert G. Redfern was placed on a year's probation on Feb. 1 by a judge in Northampton District Court. He had faced 27 counts of unlawful storage of a firearm because of unsecured weapons found at his home. Lawyers for the city and the chief reached a settlement this week on civil service charges against Redfern. The settlement reportedly includes his resignation and a cash settlement to Redfern. Teachers and staffers at the Wolf Swamp Road School worked yesterday to reassure parents and pupils. "The child broke a state law, and will be out until the situation is investigated," said Principal John H. Ciesluk. The boy was found to have two guns in his backpack on Tuesday after he told a staff member that he had a firearm and offered to show it to her. Police and school officials believe that the child intended no harm. The child's family has been "very cooperative," Ciesluk said. School officials will review the situation before the boy is allowed to return to school, he said. "We're a very close and family-oriented school, and we hope that we will respond to it in a sensitive and caring way," he said. Ciesluk said he convened an emergency faculty meeting before school yesterday to review what teachers would tell pupils. He said that teachers told the pupils that "the child made a very big mistake, but after you make a big mistake, there are consequences." A few parents approached school officials with questions about safety procedures yesterday, said Ciesluk, and Parent-Teacher Organization officials stepped up to help with communications. The school attendance yesterday appeared to be normal, he added. http://www.masslive.com/news/unionnews/index.ssf?/news/pstories/se314gus.html