Catherine Leavy, of Westfield, Mass., was taken into custody without incident at her home Thursday morning, officials said during a press conference. The 37-year-old was charged with one federal count of explosive materials – intentionally making a false bomb threat. He made an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon and was remanded in custody pending a hearing scheduled for Friday. Leavy faces up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine if convicted, according to Massachusetts District Attorney Rachael Rollins. On Aug. 30, a hospital employee received a call from someone who said, “There’s a bomb on the way to the hospital. You better get everybody out, sick people,” Rollins said during Thursday’s news conference. The call was reportedly about the hospital’s multispecialty service, which the hospital describes as safe health care it offers to gender-diverse and transgender patients and their families, Rollins said. Then the Children’s was placed on lockdown. Several agencies responded and determined there was no bomb. “Bomb hoaxes cause fear, panic and diversion of resources that have a real impact on our communities,” Rollins said Thursday. “The people who work at Children’s Hospital and the parents who bring their loved ones to Children’s Hospital have enough stress.” Leavy was determined to be the suspect after authorities obtained the caller’s phone number and traced him to her, officials said. Authorities said they found that phone while searching Leavy’s home Thursday morning. “Today’s arrest should serve as a strong warning to others that threatening violence is no joke — it’s a federal crime and carries up to five years in a federal prison,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, head of the FBI in Boston. office, during the press conference. Authorities have not released a motive. Children’s Hospital has received more than a dozen threats, many of which are related to the care it provides to transgender and transgender patients, Rollins said. He said Children’s Hospital and other hospitals that offer these kinds of services deserve to do so “without fear.” Rollins said her office will continue to investigate such hate crimes. “It seems like this is happening all too often — that pranks are being used to promote personal, hateful beliefs and ideologies,” Rollins said. “We will not allow this to continue.” Rollins said more charges are possible. Earlier this summer, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Iranian-backed hackers launched an unsuccessful cyberattack against Boston Children’s Hospital in 2021. He called it “one of the most despicable cyberattacks I’ve seen” during a speech at Boston College.

Sophie Reardon

Sophie Reardon is a news editor at CBS News. Contact her at [email protected]