Twigz
01-19-2007, 05:19 PM
Mom says teen was shocked to see video of attack on Internet; alleged attacker says victim invited fight
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The mother of the North Babylon teen viciously beaten by three high school girls said yesterday that her daughter was shocked when she saw that a video of the attack had been posted on the Internet, and that not one of the alleged assailants had come forward to apologize.
Speaking from her home yesterday, the 13-year-old victim's mother said that while her daughter had spoken with one of her attackers online, she met all of them in person for the first time on Dec. 18, when they approached her at an elementary school, and took turns kicking her to the ground, pulling her hair, and yelling taunts.
Her account of the events, similar to what Suffolk police have described, was different than one of her alleged attackers. Attorney John Ebel of Sag Harbor, who is representing one of the three teens arrested Tuesday on charges of juvenile delinquency, said that the victim and her boyfriend had invited his client and her friends to a fight.
"The alleged victim sent text messages to the girls and apparently tried to set this thing up," Ebel said yesterday. Her boyfriend, "kept encouraging them to meet them at a given spot at a given time."
The victim's mother declined to comment on Ebel's assertions.
Ebel said the victim's boyfriend is the one who recorded the video and subsequently put it on the Internet. He said three other boys were also involved, and that one can be heard giving directions to the girls from offscreen. The video wound up on MySpace, YouTube, and Photobucket, three Web sites that are popular among teens.
"This was a performance for MySpace that was staged," Ebel said.
Asked about his client's violent actions in the video, he said, "Who can account for the actions of children when they're coerced and influenced by others?" He said the girl is an honors student who is upset and regretful over what happened. "She understands getting involved with this group of kids, the boys included, was a bad mistake."
The girl's name is being withheld because she is a minor.
The developments came on the same day that Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, the North Babylon school district superintendent, and Suffolk police met to address the burgeoning issue of cyberbullying.
Superintendent Joseph Laria said that in addition to the three girls that had been suspended, the male student who recorded the attack had been suspended for five days. He said that they had only been able to suspend them because the attack was on school property.
While other students are seen on the video watching but doing nothing to help, he said their inaction was a legal "gray area" that would be difficult to codify in the school's code of conduct.
"There is nothing in the code of conduct that says if you see someone doing something bad ... you have to do something about it," Laria said. Lt. Robert Edwards said it was "possibly, highly possible," that the boy responsible for videotaping the dispute would also face charges. "We're kind of in an uncharted area here," he said.
Levy called the attack a "travesty" and said parents should be as concerned with cyberbullying as they are with sexual predators on the Internet. "It can almost be like humiliation is a sport," Levy said.
The mother of the victim confirmed Suffolk police's assertion that the fight had revolved around a boy. She said that immediately following the attack, there were no obvious changes in her behavior. According to police, she didn't tell her parents for fear she would get in trouble.
Alane Fagin, executive director of Child Abuse Prevention Services in Roslyn, said that posting video attacks was just one way kids use the Internet to hurt one another.
"Imagine going home and turning on the computer and there is this barrage of insults thrown at you," she said. "It's like you have nowhere to hide."
The victim's mother said her daughter opened up when the Web video surfaced. "When she saw the video for the first time she was in shock," she said.
She said the nationwide media coverage was "very overwhelming."
And she also expressed dismay that no one had stepped in sooner to help her child, while at the same time praising the good Samaritan who stopped his car upon seeing the attack.
"It's horrible," the mother said. "I, myself, if I see somebody getting hurt, I try to intervene."
Asked how her daughter is doing now, she said, "She's coping with it. She's got us to back her up."
Ebel, meanwhile, called on the county attorney to press charges against the four boys who took part, and the Web sites that, in his words, encourage teens to post such videos. "It's time for everyone in our society to take a long hard look at these Web sites and what they encourage in young kids," he said.
********************
The mother of the North Babylon teen viciously beaten by three high school girls said yesterday that her daughter was shocked when she saw that a video of the attack had been posted on the Internet, and that not one of the alleged assailants had come forward to apologize.
Speaking from her home yesterday, the 13-year-old victim's mother said that while her daughter had spoken with one of her attackers online, she met all of them in person for the first time on Dec. 18, when they approached her at an elementary school, and took turns kicking her to the ground, pulling her hair, and yelling taunts.
Her account of the events, similar to what Suffolk police have described, was different than one of her alleged attackers. Attorney John Ebel of Sag Harbor, who is representing one of the three teens arrested Tuesday on charges of juvenile delinquency, said that the victim and her boyfriend had invited his client and her friends to a fight.
"The alleged victim sent text messages to the girls and apparently tried to set this thing up," Ebel said yesterday. Her boyfriend, "kept encouraging them to meet them at a given spot at a given time."
The victim's mother declined to comment on Ebel's assertions.
Ebel said the victim's boyfriend is the one who recorded the video and subsequently put it on the Internet. He said three other boys were also involved, and that one can be heard giving directions to the girls from offscreen. The video wound up on MySpace, YouTube, and Photobucket, three Web sites that are popular among teens.
"This was a performance for MySpace that was staged," Ebel said.
Asked about his client's violent actions in the video, he said, "Who can account for the actions of children when they're coerced and influenced by others?" He said the girl is an honors student who is upset and regretful over what happened. "She understands getting involved with this group of kids, the boys included, was a bad mistake."
The girl's name is being withheld because she is a minor.
The developments came on the same day that Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, the North Babylon school district superintendent, and Suffolk police met to address the burgeoning issue of cyberbullying.
Superintendent Joseph Laria said that in addition to the three girls that had been suspended, the male student who recorded the attack had been suspended for five days. He said that they had only been able to suspend them because the attack was on school property.
While other students are seen on the video watching but doing nothing to help, he said their inaction was a legal "gray area" that would be difficult to codify in the school's code of conduct.
"There is nothing in the code of conduct that says if you see someone doing something bad ... you have to do something about it," Laria said. Lt. Robert Edwards said it was "possibly, highly possible," that the boy responsible for videotaping the dispute would also face charges. "We're kind of in an uncharted area here," he said.
Levy called the attack a "travesty" and said parents should be as concerned with cyberbullying as they are with sexual predators on the Internet. "It can almost be like humiliation is a sport," Levy said.
The mother of the victim confirmed Suffolk police's assertion that the fight had revolved around a boy. She said that immediately following the attack, there were no obvious changes in her behavior. According to police, she didn't tell her parents for fear she would get in trouble.
Alane Fagin, executive director of Child Abuse Prevention Services in Roslyn, said that posting video attacks was just one way kids use the Internet to hurt one another.
"Imagine going home and turning on the computer and there is this barrage of insults thrown at you," she said. "It's like you have nowhere to hide."
The victim's mother said her daughter opened up when the Web video surfaced. "When she saw the video for the first time she was in shock," she said.
She said the nationwide media coverage was "very overwhelming."
And she also expressed dismay that no one had stepped in sooner to help her child, while at the same time praising the good Samaritan who stopped his car upon seeing the attack.
"It's horrible," the mother said. "I, myself, if I see somebody getting hurt, I try to intervene."
Asked how her daughter is doing now, she said, "She's coping with it. She's got us to back her up."
Ebel, meanwhile, called on the county attorney to press charges against the four boys who took part, and the Web sites that, in his words, encourage teens to post such videos. "It's time for everyone in our society to take a long hard look at these Web sites and what they encourage in young kids," he said.