NEWBURYPORT — As a state lawmaker, Rep. Michael Costello has helped write a state law that police are using to crack down on cyber-bullying in schools.
But in his work as a defense lawyer, Costello has been retained to represent a Newburyport teen whom police charged this week with violating the same law that the Newburyport Democrat helped craft.
In all, three high school students were charged with using a Newburyport teen's name and photo to create a Facebook page, then posting comments under his name that insulted other students.
Police say two of the students have apologized, but a third hired a lawyer, who advised the parents not to talk to police. The students were not arrested, and thus their names are not publicly divulged.
Though Costello, who has a law practice in Newburyport, said he hasn't seen much in the way of documentation in the case, he said his "gut" tells him that the Newburyport case differs from the charges facing the Salisbury teen charged with bringing a gun to school.
"It's a little different than the case we had where the Triton issue is," he said.
The mother said she was surprised that Costello had signed on to represent the student who was accused of bullying her son. She said it was difficult to fathom that Costello would advise the teen to stay quiet and not cooperate with police.
"He sponsored a cyber-bullying bill," she said.
Regarding the apparent conflict of ideology, Costello explained that his legislative job precludes him from prosecutorial practice, and when called to represent the accused, he has to do the best job he can for his client.
"As a defense attorney, if I'm asked to represent someone, I'll represent them as well as I can."
He declined to discuss specifics of the case publicly.
In response to a question whether he supports ongoing anti-bully legislation being discussed in the Legislature that would give schools more responsibility to report bullying incidents that happen online, Costello noted he's been involved in drafting the law passed a few years ago that protects victims of cyber-bullying.
"We just did the harassment (bill)," he said. "I wrote the identify theft statute, which deals with some of that. I'm cognizant of (the problem).
Costello, who was elected to office in 2002 and represents Amesbury, Newburyport and Salisbury in the Statehouse, serves as the chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security and is a member of the Democratic leadership team in the House.
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