Three Massachusetts teenagers have pleaded not guilty in the bullying of a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide after what prosecutors call months of threats and harassment. Sean Mulveyhill, 17, (shown here) with the victim Phoebe Prince is one of those charged and reportedly had a brief relationship with Prince before turning against her. Also charged are Kayla Narey, 17, and Austin Renaud, 18. They are among six teens (also including Ashley Longe, Flannery Mullins and Sharon Chanon Velazquez) charged in the bullying of Prince that led to her hanging herself on Jan. 14.
Mulveyhill and Renaud are charged with statutory rape. Mulveyhill and Narey are also charged with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly.
The case is another instance of lethal bullying, which I have written about previously here.
Mulveyhill is a star football player at South Hadley High School and reportedly had a relationship with Prince after she came to the high school after moving from Ireland.
The teenagers had reportedly been hounding Prince and, on the day of her suicide, she was threatened in school hallways, and had a drink thrown at her while she walked home.
Notably, prosecutors state that school officials knew about the harassment and failed to act after Prince’s mother raised the abuse with them. Schools have been rightfully sued over such failures to act in past cases of abuse, here.
Prosecutors said last month that faculty and administrators will not be charged, even though authorities say some of them knew about the bullying and that Phoebe’s mother brought her concerns to at least two of them. Prosecutors say although the school was aware of the bullying, failure to act prior to Prince’s death did not amount to criminal behavior. They will not, however, be criminally charged.
For the full story, click here
Phoebe Prince’s civil rights were violated, a constitutional right. The parents and faculty at some point must be held acccountable. Set the trial date and let all the text messages reveal these delinquents behavior so that maybe then will their parents assist them in being accountable for their actions and to deal with the consequences and maybe the school system will proceed with better educating their faculty. If this school was sued there could not be a dollar amount high enough to put on this.
Canadian Eh,
It would be nice if the US could be as you described your situation. The practical realities are each school has its own agenda within each state and sometimes within the same school district. Since the standardized testing and no child left behind. Both of which are mandatory by federal statute they have no time left for individualized relationship issues.
Too many of them are living out 1984. Yesterday Rick Perry announced he was going to sponsor a NASCAR Car for 250K and the next article was EBooks for classrooms. Hmmm, some schools are having to cut down or shut down because of money. It must be nice when people live in Ivory Glass Towers. They seem to forget that others are not as lucky as some and some are not as lucky as others. Seems like luck may be on your side.
Maaarrghk!
In Re: Blouise
What’s not to like?
FFLEO,
You are correct, sir. I smell civil suit.
The statutory rape charges are bogus; however, I think some of the other charges are appropriate while others seem arbitrary and retaliatory after-the-fact.
Of course, there should not be any legal impediments preventing the family from filing civil charges against the school officials—correct?
I agree with most of what TomD.Arch wrote.
Blouise.
I like you. 🙂
Rafflaw…..
I do too, how very sad for a lost young life, and her family & friends.
Canadian,
I think you are right. This poor girl felt helpless and the adults at school failed her repeatedly. I only wish that her cries for help had been answered.
WTC…
I completely agree, those kids never should have been allowed to continue their behaviours…NEVER. The school officials and the parents involved had the responsibility to stop this behaviour the minute that they were aware of it.
Depression is obvious based on this womans’ action….suicide. That being said, is it obvious that it was an organic depression, no. It was likely a situational depression based on the attacks that she had endured. Perhaps she saw no end to the torment = hopelessness, perhaps she felt failed by the adults who should have protected her = helplessness, perhaps she intended to simply ” attempt ” suicide as a cry for help
= emotionally distraught. Whatever the situational cause, for someone to reach this point, depression is the diagnsis that we, in the mental health field, put to suicidal ideation or completion.
“Obviously this young woman was suffering from severe depression”
CaEh, why is this obvious? There are lots of mental states that are responses to bullying, including the natural chemical flooding that is a result of instinctive physiological response to threats…none of those kids should have been allowed to continue in that behavioural dynamic.
” Both the bullying and the suicide are horrible, but I don’t think that all of these charges are an appropriate response. Every suicide, particularly kids who commit suicide, is tragic, but blaming others for that suicide should be kept in check. Plenty of teenagers under far less stressful circumstances commit suicide, and plenty of teens under far more stressful circumstances don’t. Let me be clear – I am not saying “blame the victim.” Rather, I am saying that there is a limit to the responsibility that can be put on the shoulders of people who neither made the decisions she did, nor took the actions she did. “- TomDArch
I absolutely agree. Bullies are a horrible breed and the behaviours that these adolescents engaged in to torment a young woman are inexcusable. There definately should be consequence for their bullying behaviour, however those consequences should have been dished out by school administrators as soon as the problems were brought to their attention. If I was the parent of any of these bullies, I would be livid if school officials did not attempt to contact me to inform me of what my child was doing.
Obviously this young woman was suffering from severe depression and should have been offered mental health counselling, again as soon as school officials were made aware of the situation. Perhaps with the proper intervention for all parties involved this tragedy would have been averted.
We are very fortunate in this part of Canada, schools have strict ” no tolerance ” rules for any act of violence….including bullying with words. It works well, I know. I have brought acts of bullying to the attention of school administrators on 2 separate occasions and appropriate action was instant.
When I was four years old I saw a boy, about my age, being picked on by other boys on the play ground. I went to his defense and suffered a bloody nose for my trouble but gave two bloody noses in return. And thus it went for the rest of my life. For some reason I despise bullies … always have, always will.
I’ve found this particular dislike to be rather strange as I’ve never been bullied by anybody … but let me see it or hear about it and off I go to defend. It’s a quirk in my personality I guess.
So … hang ’em high or put them in an institution where bullying is constant … they’ll suffer big time and deserve every moment of it … hopefully for years and years.
P.S. one doesn’t want me on any of their juries.
Actions and words have consequences. The teens who harasses and bullied are about to find that out. Its a shame the teachers/administrators are being let off the hook. Still i guess there is the cold comfort of civil actions against them all…
I am very skeptical of many of these charges against these kids. This strikes me as a ex post facto, PR-driven, over reaction by a prosecutor who is setting up for a future run for public office. Both the bullying and the suicide are horrible, but I don’t think that all of these charges are an appropriate response. Every suicide, particularly kids who commit suicide, is tragic, but blaming others for that suicide should be kept in check. Plenty of teenagers under far less stressful circumstances commit suicide, and plenty of teens under far more stressful circumstances don’t. Let me be clear – I am not saying “blame the victim.” Rather, I am saying that there is a limit to the responsibility that can be put on the shoulders of people who neither made the decisions she did, nor took the actions she did.
The statutory rape charges seem particularly suspicious. If harassment and coercion was used to pressure this girl into having sex with either of these boys, then they could well make sense. But if these were normal teenage sexual relationships (normal including a fair amount of adolescent confusion and complexity), then it’s crazy to make a 16 or 17 year old kid into yet another marked-for-life “sex offender” because he had essentially consensual sex with a fellow adolescent.
To the degree that these kids appear to have committed straight forward crimes, like assault, they should face those charges.
The school administrators should not be fundamentally blamed for the suicide, but rather should be held accountable if they knew of students who were acting as a “gang,” conspiring to commit crimes such as assault, and were showing a repeated pattern of such criminal activity. It seems that they should be responsible for excluding kids who harass and interfere with the rest of the students.
Interestingly, fundamentalist Christian groups should be in terror of this set of charges. Right now, GBLT kids are being assaulted and harassed by culturally right-wing bullies, and some of those victims of bullying will, tragically, go on to commit suicide. If these kids in MA are held essentially criminally responsible as a consequence of this girl’s suicide, then lots of god-fearing, church-going, varsity football team captaining kids are going to go to jail when the “fag” they like to beat up can’t take it any more, and does what so many kids do. The “ACLJ” and their ilk had better get busy before this sets a precedent that sends a bunch of “Christians” to jail.
While I wholeheartedly agree that these students ought to be held accountable, and suffer the full consequences of their actions, I find it absolutely disgusting that school faculty and administrators will not be held criminally responsible.
My high school aged daughter has seen this behavior in her school; cruelty aimed at one of her friends because she is a little person. She and many of her friends stood up to the bullies and the bullying stopped – without anger, without violence. Needless to say, I couldn’t have been prouder of my daughter and her friends. Unfortunately, many of todays parents don’t teach their kids to stand up for what’s right, and to stand up to those who are wrong.
WtC,
I agree.
Prosecutors said last month that faculty and administrators will not be charged, even though authorities say some of them knew about the bullying and that Phoebe’s mother brought her concerns to at least two of them.
“The investigation revealed relentless activity directed toward Phoebe designed to humiliate her and to make it impossible for her to remain at school,” said Scheibel. “The bullying for her became intolerable.”
Bullying is so inculcated in our society. This is not just an example, it is the REASON. Why not hold school administrators responsible? The family went to them, this girl had a right to be safe at school. Bullying should never be ignored, not ever, not anywhere. And when they are done with the schools ,perhaps the justice system could trake a good hard look at what can be done about Corporations that bully, and law firms that bully.
And the school administrators enjoy what immunity?
Sadly this type of scum always gets away with it.
Makes my blood boil.
This is such a tragic case. The school administrators that allowed this to fester should be criminally liable. How they can know of bullying and not take any action is beyond me. The kids that indulged in this should also pay a heavy price. Where are people’s brains when they treat another human being this way? They are lucky that she was not my child because I would haunt them for the rest of my life to remind them what they took away. So sad.