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
it worked 🙂
Buddha,
just testing to see if I did the gravatar correctly. I had to change my name to do it…..so here goes
Formally Canadian Eh!
” So would you say then that the bullying was the cause of that depression?…or that the suicide was the result of depression and not bullying? “- Woosty’s Still a Cat..
*******
Wow that’s a really difficult question to answer with so little details about the young woman.
From what I have read here, and in another article that I read earlier this week with respect to this case, it is very possible that she was depressed before the bullying.
The articles stated that she has recently moved to the US from Ireland, which would be an incredible difficult situation for any teenager and also within the top 10 life stressors for all people. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend, a boy whom she had been intimate with ( I am inferring from the fact that he was charged with Stat. rape and not rape )who became one of her tormentors. Teenaged break-ups can be devastating on their own, but add in the emotional connection formed by a 15 year old girl who becomes intimate with the boy who dumps her and then starts tormenting her. There is mention of a mom in the article but not of a dad, so there is a possibility of an absent fater or a recent parental break up in her life. Finally, when she reached out to adults for help because things became intollerable for her, no one stepped in to stop it. With all of the events in her life, we know nothing of family history of depression so it would be impossible to determine the possiblity of a genetic link.
So t answer your question, I think that depression was probably the result of the cumulation of everything happening in her life, her inability to receive help when she reached out for it, and not knowing how to cope with all of the events being thrown at her. Obviously, suicide seemed to her to be the only way to escape all of the discord in her life.
There were certainly enough possible causes for situational depression in this girls life before the bullying started…and then add that in on top.
I actually graduated from this high school only 4 years ago. We never had anyone commit suicide because of bullying when I was there, but the stage was certainly being set for this incident. The biggest problem at the school was always the lack of a tough no-nonsense administrative staff. But even teachers can do more. As a freshmen there, I was bullied in a class for a while and as soon as the teacher noticed it, he started blocking for me. That really went a long way. Of all the people that they are coming down on, I really do not think the principal deserves any heat. He’s a good guy who was always interested in what each student was doing. As for the charges against the students, I’d hope that most of them would be dropped. We’ve already seen the loss of one life, is destroying 6 or 7 others really going to make it better? It has already been tragic enough, no sense in compounding it.
personally i hope these kids are tried as adults then are convicted
and go to grown up prison for 20 years. what they did in my opinion
is no difference than if they took a gun and shot her dead. they
killed this poor girl and now she is gone forever and these punks
will keep on living but i hope its a living hell.
Buddha Is Laughing,
Followed your suggestion. Thank you
Sam (the real thing),
It’s easy to do
Sam
Whoa – the post by Sam yesterday afternoon was not me! I guess there is nothing blocking the use of anyone’s identity on here – I’m assuming I could post as anyone on here?
This needs to be fixed…I just re-read the post and I did not post that!
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Two Sams? A dubious double blessing?
I like Buddha’s suggestion.
mespo,
When my daughter was 10 years old she went to a slumber party with two other girls. For the purpose of this post “#1” is the girl who had the party, “#2” is my daughter, and “#3” is the girl who threw the egg. It is a week before Halloween. It is after midnight. The night is overcast, chilly and shrouded in fog. The houses in the neighborhood are decorated with ghosts and goblins. The parents are in bed and the girls are giggling in the family room telling ghost stories.
Someone gets the idea to grab some toilet paper, a few eggs, and sneak out of the house to have some “fun”.
Cut to the chase … at 1:00am all the parents get phone calls from the Police Station. Our children had been caught out after curfew, in possession of three rolls of toilet paper and two eggs. A third egg was plastered on someone’s front porch. Toilet paper is “no big deal” say the cops but egging a house is destruction of property and the owner is considering pressing charges.
The parents of girls #1 and #2 get together and agree upon a coarse of action. Girl #3’s parents opt out as, in their opinion, getting caught by the police and being taken to the Station is punishment enough. Girl #3 admitted to throwing the egg.
The agreed upon coarse of action for #1 and #2 was that they had to compose a letter of apology and, in the company of their fathers, had to hand deliver the letter to the owner of the egged house. In the letter they were to offer to clean the egg off the front porch or, if that was not acceptable, to pay for the owner’s hiring someone to do it.
The owner accepted their offer to clean up the egg. The fathers unloaded the cleaning supplies from the car and supervised the girls. The owner inspected their completed work, complimented them on the job and told them he accepted their apology. He then returned their letter with a copy of same that he had made on his home office copier. He suggested they keep it as it might come in handy one day when they were parents themselves. Neither girl was allowed to mention that the absent #3 actually threw the egg.
The parents also took advantage of the situation to talk to their girls about keeping their judgement of right and wrong especially when in a group … the “Mob Mentality” thing where no one feels individually responsible for what the mob does as a whole and the dangers of going into a store with friends who shoplift etc.
The parents also explained to the girls that they were to stay away from girl #3 … not because she threw the egg but because they did not approve of the parenting skills of #3’s mother and father.
These girls are now in their 30’s and still good friends. They are very successful in their chosen careers and each now has a toddler. They both still have their copy of the letter.
Girl #3 experienced many behavioral problems in High School and no one knows where she is today or what she is doing with her life.
Helping one’s child to build character is a very important parenting skill and the process begins as soon as the child is able to reason and continues well into their 20’s.
Children who have reached the ages of 16, 17, and 18 and lack the strength of character to control the urge to bully others are a direct reflection on their own parents’ child rearing abilities. The victims should be legally able to address those parental failures and society should hold them accountable.
Canadian Eh…
you said “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.”
So would you say then that the bullying was the cause of that depression?…or that the suicide was the result of depression and not bullying?
Sam,
Your e-mail is fixed data. The screen name is attached to it. If you wish to lower the chance of mistaken identity, might I suggest going to http://www.gravatar.com and registering an avatar associated to your address. In addition, you can go to Wordress and register as a user there as well. It’s not perfect, but it’s good enough that if someone seriously tries to impersonate you, it’ll give the Prof the information required to remove the offender which history has shown he will ban people for that.
But you do have to admit there is probably more than one Sam about. Could be pure coincidence.
Whoa – the post by Sam yesterday afternoon was not me! I guess there is nothing blocking the use of anyone’s identity on here – I’m assuming I could post as anyone on here?
This needs to be fixed…I just re-read the post and I did not post that!
Oh, I forgot … possible defense to a charge of “depraved indifference” which focuses on the risk created by a parent’s conduct, not the injuries actually resulting from poor parenting skills:
“I knew something of what my child was doing and tried to stop it but the little bugger wouldn’t listen to me.”
Perfect … turn on your kid to save yourself … painful, but nothing like the pain the victim’s mother is experiencing.
Symmetry … Justice.
mespo727272
1, April 8, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Sam, Blouise:
Is it truly your position that parents of criminally responsible children should be charged as accomplices in the crime? Can parents control the actions of their teenagers to the degree that they are criminally culpable for their actions? Should the trial of these parents turn on their parenting skills? Whether they were in situ or not in situ when the child was reared? Whether they had full, partial, or some knowledge of the actions of their kids? Finally ,whether their actions or omissions directly lead to the commission of the crime or merely contributed to the attitudes that served as the background for the crime.
These questions will have to be answered if you are serious. There is a reason we do not subscribe to the ancient custom of visiting the sins of the father on the son and vice versa.
Even Ezekiel gets it right though not without detractors:
The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
Ezekiel 18:20 (NASB)
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I will speak for myself, not for Sam as I don’t know his motivation, but I did agree with him and am responsible for that. I take your questions seriously and am giving them serious thought and will answer them for I consider this situation to be a prime example of bullying gone to its most terrible extreme.
From the article:
” … the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm” that was widely known among the student body.
On the day she died, Prince had been bullied in the library, threatened in school hallways, and had a drink thrown at her while she walked home.
“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.” (end article quote)
My laying of the groundwork (with assist from various articles in quotes):
The victim was a freshman, 15 years old and newly arrived in both the school and the country. Three of the perpetrators facing criminal charges are 17 and 18 year olds … others, nicknamed the “mean girls” are 16 and 17 year olds. All are upper class-men/women.
It has been suggested that the victim’s brief relationship with the upper class man/star football player “allegedly initiated a wave of hate toward Prince from other “popular” girls who allegedly deemed the relationship to be unsuitable.” It has also been suggested that the “”foreigner factor” is likely to have provided an extra excuse for the teens to allegedly ridicule and intimidate Prince.”
I will repeat for emphasis that the 3 month campaign was “widely known among the student body.”
My daughter was part of a popular clique in high school as was I. My mother counseled me, as I counseled my daughter, that one of the many pitfalls of popularity was the act of bullying … using ones popularity as a weapon against others. It’s an easy road to take and a dangerous one both to those around you and, most importantly, to your own self-image and sense of worth. My mother watched me like a hawk and watched my friends … I did the same with my daughter. My mother developed a network with my friends’ mothers and I did the same with the mothers of my daughter’s friends. As a result my friends and I got away with very little (somebody’s mother knew one thing, someone else’s mother knew another thing … and like puzzle masters, they put it all together) … same for my daughter and her friends. Paying that close attention is a lot of work but the outcome is well worth the effort.
What this group of uncontrolled bullies did, allegedly, ended the life of another human being … this is something each will have to live with long after their “popular” days at high school are over. The ripple effect upon the lives of the victim’s family will be constant and incredible pain.
Will the parents now spend every dollar they can scrape together keeping their child from suffering the legal consequences of his/her actions? Oh yeah. But no amount of money will save their child’s sense of self worth or restore his/her self image. And nothing will undo what, allegedly, their child did.
In agreeing with Sam, I was expressing a sense of outrage that the ones most responsible for the behavior of these bullies, outside of the bullies themselves, weren’t even mentioned in the articles. Do bullies develop in a vacuum? No. Is bullying a learned behavior? Yes. Who is responsible for what a child learns? The parents.
I had to look up “in situ” and it means “in place”, right?
The alleged bullies should be charged and brought to trial for what they allegedly did to the victim. Their parents, on the other hand, should be charged and brought to trial for the loss suffered by the victim’s parent due to their piss poor parenting skills (a kind of symmetry of justice based on depraved indifference which focuses on the risk created by their conduct, not the injuries actually resulting.) They were, after all, very much in situ during the 3 months their children were allegedly engaging in lethal activities. Poor parenting skills are not “of the righteous” … but I don’t have a Bible verse to back that up.
Okay, you caused me to think it through … where are the flaws in my reasoning?
Kim Mansfield:
“Everyone must be held accountable.”
**************
I think the kids’ former babysitters should be responsible too, since they likewise provided supervision. And while we’re on this accountability kick, how about the grandparents? Didn’t they likewise supervise the parents of these kids and do a piss-poor job of it? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? I am likewise concerned about the city councilpersons who did not pass tough enough laws prohibiting unqualified babysitters from watching these kids, and unqualified grandparents from raising the parents of these kids, and hence off with their heads too! I also note that voters put these irresponsible councilpersons into office where they could be derelict in their duties, thus the voters should also be charged with criminal conspiracy. If we don’t take these actions, “the system never changes,” because it’s still the same system, and the only way to change the system is to arrest the system, and put it in jail, and have another system put into place that will be perfect. Whew, I’m tired, but I’m glad we got that fixed!
The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said, without even looking round.
~Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland “
There is a direct correlation between parental supervision and children’s behavior. Everyone must be held accountable. If not the system never changes. This includes the parents, teachers and the students that bullied. Children should be held accountable for their own actions and not their parents, making some allows for their age and other possible mitigating factors. If a parent is guilty of criminal neglect where their kids are concerned, then they should be charged with that crime. To say that it is o.k. for the horrific behavior of these juveniles in this Phoebe Prince story – what would they be doing in one year, or two years from now? It is not normal to behave that way. Sure, over the years kids have teased and taunted other students – but not like the teasing is done today, ipods, cell phones, internet, social networking, etc. Watch your kids, check out their facebook and myspace pages. The courts need to place fines on teens or not allow a drivers license for delinquent acts and provide counseling and therapy if needed to the juvenile and the parents.
Sam, Blouise:
Is it truly your position that parents of criminally responsible children should be charged as accomplices in the crime? Can parents control the actions of their teenagers to the degree that they are criminally culpable for their actions? Should the trial of these parents turn on their parenting skills? Whether they were in situ or not in situ when the child was reared? Whether they had full, partial, or some knowledge of the actions of their kids? Finally ,whether their actions or omissions directly lead to the commission of the crime or merely contributed to the attitudes that served as the background for the crime.
These questions will have to be answered if you are serious. There is a reason we do not subscribe to the ancient custom of visiting the sins of the father on the son and vice versa.
Even Ezekiel gets it right though not without detractors:
The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
Ezekiel 18:20 (NASB)
Sam,
Agree!
What about the parents of those 9 teens, they need to be held criminally responsible and sued in civil court too. All this talk about holding the teachers and administrators responsible, I’ve nobody mention the parents of these evil spawns of the devil that terrorized that girl to her death. These parents should be right up there in court being charged alongside their spawns of the devil.
Tom D. Arch::
Let’s say I embark upon a relentless campaign of verbal derision against a mentally challenged person questioning everything about him and putting his disability “front and center.” In doing so, I know full-well about his vulnerable state and also know the proclivities of such persons to do harm to themselves if their fragile sense of self-esteem is threatened by my knowledge of a very personal and embarrassing event. After weeks of this incessant harassment (some of it in public), the victim commits the act that I had originally foreseen, or which I had somewhat hoped for. Any culpability on my part? “Sticks and stones” defense apply here too?
Maaarrghk! & Buddha Is Laughing,
Blushing, she grinned her aw-shucks grin.