There is a sharp disconnect between two prank stories this morning. When Tyrell Morton put an inflatable girl in the girl’s bathroom at his high school, he ended up with a felony charge and a potential jail sentence of eight years. However, when three eighth-grade girls from Dunbar Middle school in Florida tackled an 11-year-old boy and stripped him naked (and proceeded to videotape him and taunt him), they were let go as a simple prank in bad taste.
In the video, the girls stop the boy to chat and then hold him down, strip him naked, and mock him. The video was put on YouTube.
The boy is a fifth grader at Ray Pottorf Elementary. One girl faced a single misdemeanor battery charges, but it was abandoned when the boy’s mother has refused to press charges. I commend her for her restraint, but I wonder what the charge would be if a group of boys attacked and stripped a girl in public, videotaped her, and mocked her.
I tend to disfavor criminal charges in such cases. However, it seems clear that the girls should be expelled and subject to the most severe forms of school punishment. What I find interesting, however, is the sharply different treatment given such acts by boys as opposed to girls. Indeed, I doubt seriously this would have even confined to a misdemeanor if the genders were reversed or that, with the existence of the videotape, the failure to press charges would be determinative. If the police witness or have evidence of a felony, they do not necessarily require the consent of the victim. Once again, I would not take this to the criminal system. Yet, I am surprised that the articles only refer to the possibility of parental punishment as opposed to immediate expulsion and other measures, such as denial of social clubs, graduation etc.
Jonathan Turley
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I wish i saw the kids dick
Robert , i heard these girls enjoyed their prank, and continue pick younger kids. how do you know they will never do it again?
A couple months ago, my six year old kissed a girl in his class on the cheek. The girl complained to the teacher. His teacher didn’t make a big deal out of it and just asked my son to “say you like someone from now on.” What concerns me was MY initial reaction to this innocent tale. I got nervous. It really pisses me off that I got nervous about something so cute. Why am I recounting this? I am by no means comparing this happenstance to what these thug girls did, what I am saying is that our school culture has to find a balance. Zero tolerance school culture has made a lot of really good parents really really paranoid.
Here is another case of a young girl in Lee County Florida behaving badly. A 9-year old girl had a temper tantrum on a school bus. She later threw a piece of asphalt at the bus. She was arrested, taken to jail, and charged with multiple felonies. The girl, who has mental problems, was shown on Channel 2 news November 1 and her full name was given. I will refer to her only by her first name, Amber. Compare this case with the youtube assault incident.
1. How responsible are the perpetrators for their actions?
The youtube bullies were 13; Amber is 9. The youtube bullies made a deliberate decision to commit a crime, and cooperated to carry out the assault; Amber had a tantrum and may not have understood what she was doing. The youtube bullies acted over a considerable period of time, first committing assault, then posting it on youtube, then boasting to friends about it; Amber had a tantrum and ceased criminal behavior when she calmed down.
2. What is the seriousness of the crimes?
The youtube bullies crimes include sexual assault on a minor under 12, a life felony in florida. Only capital offenses like murder are more serious. They also produced and distributed child pornography, another very serious felony. They traumatized the victim mentally, as well as stomping on his throat.
Amber threw a piece of asphalt at a school bus and cussed at the driver. Nobody was injured.
3. Do we have evidence that would justify a trial?
We have absolute proof of the youtube bullies crime in the video they made of it. Whether we have witnesses telling the same story of Amber’s actions is not known.
4. What is the racial and social status of the perpetrators?
The youtube bullies are White girls living in an exclusive gated community. Amber is a poor Black girl.
It would appear that to the Florida state attorney, race and wealth have priority over all other factors in deciding whether to prosecute. I had put links to the story, but it kept my post from going through, so I am only keeping the link to NAACP. Please let them know if you think there is injustice here.
http://www.naacp.org/page/s/contact
Just a quick note to Mike Spindell. Hey, not every man out there agrees with you regarding the victimization of American women. And, by the way, we all have our own methods of getting laid. Was yours to agree and vote for the oh so “Victimized American Female?” Is this how you got into her pants?
There needs to be community service, rehabilitation and counselling for these girls. Hopefully, this will scare them and they will never do this ever again.
For this boy. He needs counselling because it will take a long time to get over this. It should be the responsibility of these three girls families to pay for it.
May I have some eggs and toast to go with my Spam?
Can a moderator remove the above comment?
Can I see some more articles to do with phone sex girls?
I recently saw a Lifetime movie (with my wife…ha ha) which had a disturbing message. It featured a girl who was severely attacked physically by a group of older girls who recorded the event on a cell phone and then uploading it to a YouTube-style site. The prosecutor was a woman who wanted to throw the book at the attackers, but the girl decided that seeking any kind of legal retribution would be as bad as the physical attack committed against her. If the attackers had been males, I doubt that the DA would have allowed the victim to decide against prosecution. I also felt that the message in the end was unsettling, as if using the legal system to vindicate oneself was just as bad as the original act.
Seems hard to believe kids that age would actually go that far, to actually strip someone completely. It’s a sad commentary on parenting and our society in general that limits are not understood.
Anybody heard the latest about this? The last I heard, the Florida DA was reviewing the case and determining whether or not to press charges. If they don’t we will need to do something.
Like someone said.. you can’t respect women rights if you they don’t respect yours. And I suppose.. in the end it can back fire on them.
FAKE AND GAY!
“Mother”, please listen… this happened to me at that age and its haunted me. Back then things were handled differently and I’ve always wished my parents had done something about it. The girls got half the school to taunt me for years. Nothing was ever done to them and I blame my parents. Mother, later on down the road you’re going to regret not pressing charges. My parents, who left it to their parents, regret it today. It bothered me more as I went through school and even though I was ok with my parents at first, it tore us apart later in my teenage years. You’re making a mistake.
“They should of at least sent the girls to prison in order to have THEM strip searched fully naked.”
WWJD?
Bend over, spread your cheeks, and say “Ah.”
Oh, wait, that was the draft physical.
They should of at least sent the girls to prison in order to have THEM strip searched fully naked.
They should face the same punishment as boys/males face in a situation like that. What is being said by not making them face the same is that girls can do those things and rape some one and it is OK. boys/men on the other hand pay dearly for doing shit like that. WHAT A MESSAGE THEY ARE SENDING. Thank GOD i don’t live in nor visit Florida.
I agree with you. There’s a huge double standard, and if nothing is done, the DA is going to look bad. We have to keep reminding people of this because the longer it takes to come up with something, the less likely anything is going to be done.
if this happened to my kid, i would have pressed charges so those girls would be in the juvinile system till they were at least 21 and then sued they’re parents for enough money to bankrupt them for raising such evil lil bitches. if the roles would be reversed, there woulda been a massive public outcry. this is why i refuse to listen to women complain that its always men’s fault. they have been playing this bs hand for far to long and need to recieve a kick in the but once in a while to realize that life isn’t fair.