BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and publisher

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Whispering Pines Elementary School parent charged with making threats against school, posting anti-Semitic comments on social media, burglary and voyeurism and that he suffers from mental health issues will remain in the Palm Beach County Jail until at least early January.

A judge earlier on Thursday adjourned the case against Chirag Patel till January 9. He remains held without bond. It was not immediately clear whether bond would be allowed at some point in the next two months if his alleged mental health improves.

Patel, the parent of a student at Whispering Pines Elementary, posted a series of anti-Semitic comments on social media in August. The comments were posted around the same time he is accused of engaging with school officials at Whispering Pines and yelling threats at some of them. He was banned from the Whispering Pines campus, but was allegedly seen on campus days after the “ban,” which prompted several parents to complain to school officials and local law enforcement. In early September, a “tip” to an anonymous law enforcement reporting app led the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to seeing Patel peering into the window of a home near Whispering Pines Elementary. He was arrested outside Whispering Pines Elementary School later that morning.

Patel is formally charged with “end of an occupied dwelling, “sex offense – first offense voyeurism” and “crimes against the person – corruption by threatening a family public official”. We note that sometimes the charges listed by the Palm Beach County Jail are automatically generated. There is no mention of a “sex crime” in the arrest report. The voyeurism charge is based on the allegation that he looked through the window of a neighbor’s house.

Some parents at Whispering Pines Elementary have hired an attorney to represent them in an effort to keep Patel in jail until trial. The parents argued that under Florida’s Marsy’s Law, them they are the victims. However, Marsy’s Law was largely struck down by the Florida Supreme Court, and the lawyer they hired dropped the parents as clients. No charges have been filed against Patel for anything involving the school. Now there are questions about where the money raised by the parents through a ‘GoFund Me’ campaign – believed to be $15,000 – has gone.