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Suspects in video beating could get life in prison
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| Chryz707 |
These kids arent gonna get life, they will probably all get maybe at best a little bit of time in a juvenile Hall and then come out even more ed up. But you know whats even more wrong with the situation. The kids didnt post the video on you tube, the Police did it and did it all over. If they report about a story they are just as guilty to perpetuating violence as well. Everyone wants to see it, and now they will thanks to the cops...
Eight Florida teenagers -- six of them girls -- will be tried as adults and could be sentenced to life in prison for their alleged roles in the videotaped beating of another teen, the state attorney's office said Thursday.
The suspects, who range in age from 14 to 18, all face charges of kidnapping, which is a first-degree felony, and battery, said Chip Thullbery, a spokesman for the Polk County state attorney. Three of them are also charged with tampering with a witness.
Everyone involved in the case was under a gag order imposed by a judge. The only attorney for the teens who has been publicly identified did not return calls from CNN, and his assistant cited the gag order as the reason. The teens are scheduled for their first appearance in court Friday.
The video shows a brutal scene: The 16-year-old victim is punched, kneed and slapped by other girls. She huddles in the fetal position, or stands and screams at her attackers, but the assault continues. Authorities say the eight teens said they were retaliating for insults posted on the Internet by the attack victim.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called the March 30 attack "animalistic."
"I've been involved in law enforcement for 35 years, and I've seen a lot of extremely violent events, but I've never seen children, 14 to 18 years of age, engage in this conduct for a 30-minute period of time and then make these video clips," he said. Police say the teens planned to post the video on YouTube. Watch the disturbing video »
The victim, a 16-year-old from Lakeland, Florida, was hospitalized, and still has blurred vision, hearing loss, and a swollen face, her mother told CNN on Wednesday.
The video shows only girls doing the beating; Judd said the boys acted as lookouts.
The idea of girls administering a vicious beating so they can post the video online may seem shocking, but it's becoming an increasingly common scenario, according to experts and news reports. Watch why more teens are putting fights online »
A search for "girl fight" on YouTube gets thousands of results, and a suggestion to also try "girl fight at school, boy girl fight" and other search terms. There's at least one Web site devoted exclusively to videos of girls fighting.
In 2003, 25 percent of high school girls said they had been in a physical fight in the past year, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The figure for boys was 40.5 percent.)
A Justice Department report released in 2006 showed that by age 17, 21 percent of girls said they had assaulted someone with the intent to cause serious harm.
Frank Green is executive director of Keys to Safer Schools, a group that studies and tries to prevent school violence. He said he's not sure whether girls have actually become more violent, or whether there's just more awareness of their fights.
"In one respect, girls have always been more vicious than boys," Green said. "Their violence is of a personal nature." He said boys usually have some focus and a concrete goal when they fight. "But girls want to cause pain and make the other girl feel bad," he said.
Judd, the Polk County sheriff, said an important part of the plan in the Lakeland attack was to post the video of the beating on YouTube to humiliate and embarrass the victim.
"It's the next stage of cyberbullying," psychologist Susan Lipkins said. "They want to show what they're doing."
"Our kids are being peer pressured, in another sense of a trend, to put these shock videos out there at other peoples' expense," said Talisa Lindsay, the victim's mother. "And I hope that it doesn't come to the point where there's more people's lives that are being affected by having to take a beating for entertainment, or possibly being killed." Watch mother describe how the victim is doing »
The suspects didn't have a chance to post the video online before police moved in and seized it, Judd said. The Sheriff's Department made it public, and it wound up on YouTube anyway. Judd recognizes the irony.
"In a perverted sense, we were feeding into exactly what the kids wanted," he said. "But according to Florida law, [the video] is public record, and it's going to be in the public domain whether we agree with that or not."
Judd said the suspects showed no remorse when they were arrested and booked.
"They were laughing and joking about, 'I guess we won't get to go to the beach during spring break.' And one ... asked whether she could go to cheerleading practice," he said.
Lipkins, the psychologist, says there's a "disconnect between their actions and their thoughts."
"They think the entire society is doing it, and they think it's funny. So they put it on YouTube. And I don't think they expect kids to get really hurt, and they also don't expect to get really caught." |
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| Shakka |
ing ****s. Just scare 'em straight. They won't go to jail, but if they don't deserve a beating.
| quote: | | "Our kids are being peer pressured, in another sense of a trend, to put these shock videos out there at other peoples' expense," said Talisa Lindsay, the victim's mother. "And I hope that it doesn't come to the point where there's more people's lives that are being affected by having to take a beating for entertainment, or possibly being killed." Watch mother describe how the victim is doing » |
| quote: | | "They think the entire society is doing it, and they think it's funny. So they put it on YouTube. And I don't think they expect kids to get really hurt, and they also don't expect to get really caught." |
And this is bull. Don't try to make the perpetrators into the victims here. Yeah--society made them do it. They're innocent. Never mind that they clearly have a warped sense of right and wrong. Their parents should probably be put in jail too. By not admitting how wrong the behavior is and not embracing consequences for their actions, these actions are essentially being condoned. |
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| SiLveR_NrGy_985 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shakka
ing ****s. Just scare 'em straight. They won't go to jail, but if they don't deserve a beating.
And this is bull. Don't try to make the perpetrators into the victims here. Yeah--society made them do it. They're innocent. Never mind that they clearly have a warped sense of right and wrong. Their parents should probably be put in jail too. By not admitting how wrong the behavior is and not embracing consequences for their actions, these actions are essentially being condoned. |
i don't think the parents should be going to jail for something their young and aware teenage kids did, should've been more strict with their kids yes but not jail thats ridiculous... |
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| josh4 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Chryz707
These kids arent gonna get life, they will probably all get maybe at best a little bit of time in a juvenile Hall and then come out even more ed up. But you know whats even more wrong with the situation. The kids didnt post the video on you tube, the Police did it and did it all over. If they report about a story they are just as guilty to perpetuating violence as well. Everyone wants to see it, and now they will thanks to the cops... |
I didn't read your article but I'm familiar with the story. As I understand it these losers went well above and beyond a simple fight with this girl. They all collaborated with luring her to somebody's home where they trapped her in a room and beat the out of her until she passed out. Then they waited for her to wake up and continued to beat her, for 30 minutes. I am against any suggestion that in some angle they are victims. The only victim here is the girl that got sent to the hospital.
Lets not start blurring lines. We're talking about two topics. Theres the actual crime or beating of this girl. Which from what I've seen and read, deserves swift justice. Then theres this video and the broad discussion of the Internet and its affect on kids and how that could have possibly have relevance to this particular story. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Chryz707
In 2003, 25 percent of high school girls said they had been in a physical fight in the past year, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (The figure for boys was 40.5 percent.) |
that stat is kinda useless though as the article doesn't provide any data to compare it with. there is every possibility that the number of assaults and the fact that some people post "assault vids" online isn't related.
are people more likely to commit a violent crime because they can film and upload it, or are they just more likely to film themselves because they're committing a violent crime?
there will always be idiots that do this kind of for their 15 minutes, but the article is a long way from showing a strong correlation between the number of assaults and the nature of the videos on youtube et al.
| quote: | Originally posted by Chryz707
A Justice Department report released in 2006 showed that by age 17, 21 percent of girls said they had assaulted someone with the intent to cause serious harm. |
but it doesn't say that 21 percent of girls said they had assaulted someone with the intent to record it and post the video online. |
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| Moongoose |
This somewhat reminds me of a CSI episode Fannysmacking, where a gang of bored teens would go around and beat people up because it was fun. At least in the episode they had the decency to wear masks and hoodies so they wouldn't be recognized. I mean come on even at 14 you should know that if you beat someone until he/she is unconscious there will be consequences, especially if you intend to post the video of said beating on youtube.
Anyway i think pkc is right, i dont believe that the rise in assault vids being posted is also a rise in actual assaults. Its just that today a decent phone can film an awesome quality video, something that only a few years ago was impossible so anyone can film things like this going on. The number of idiots fighting hasnt increased, just the number of idiots recording it. |
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| colonelcrisp |
on one hand i think society and especially school boards are taking this whole "bullying" issue way too seriously. what are we accomplishing? teaching kids that if someone gives them a hard time, they dont have to stand up for themselves because someone older and more authoritative will? I think my healthy coat of thick skin is a direct result of my experience through my pre highschool days. Im not saying that kicking hte out of people is justified, but there is nothing wrong with a good healthy shove to show someone that your not going to put up with their .
now on to these 8 morons. if you have a problem with someone, do the right thing, confront them one on one, if your gonna fight them, make it a fair fight. The only thing an 8 on one proves, is that your a wanker. I hope these kids get the book thrown at them, if they just get "scared straight" no one learns a lesson, other kids will see the result of this and think its a carte blanche to get away with it. These kids were even stupid enough to film the whole thing? they might as well have given it straight to the cops and asked to be thrown in jail for a couple years. When you beat someone to the point that they are unconsious and suffer hearing and sight loss, i think its safe to assume that you weren't just "sticking up for yourself", you were intending to cause some serious bodily harm. |
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| Fir3start3r |
...and this is exactly why my kids are going to learn to defend themselves - from idiots like these.
Being in the city of Toronto, I have no doubt that the possibility of this happening is high.
As far as the assaulters being 'victims of society' is bullsh@t.
This lame argument is always used when responsibility rears it's ugly head and looks them straight in the eye.
Its amazing that, even being caught on video, they'll deny responsibility.
I hope they get everything they deserve...:whip: |
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| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
Being in the city of Toronto, I have no doubt that the possibility of this happening is high. |
:stongue:
i had to laugh at that comment; Toronto is one of the safest cities in NA. |
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| pmoisse |
They should serve extra time for being stupid and video taping the whole thing.
It's brutal enough to beat the out of someone like that, but any potential sympathy for these attackers (I have none whatsoever, but some people might) should go out the window since this was so obviously pre-meditated.
Yeah, society encouraged them to beat the out of this girl & post it online because that's what all the kids are doing these days. Good call, Mom of the year!! |
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| Shakka |
| Sometimes you gotta wonder how defense attorneys sleep at night. |
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