Thursday, May 5, 2011

No Jail Time in Bullying Suicide Case

Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock
A plea was struck in a highly watched school bullying court case, giving five of six defendants a year of probation and no jail time. Kayla Narey, Sharon Chanon Velázquez, Ashley Longe, Sean Mulveyhill, and Flannery Mullins  plead guilty in Hampshire Superior Court in Massachusetts to charges of criminal harassment of Phoebe Price. More serious charges were dropped as part of the plea arrangement. The agreement is subject to approval of a judge. Additional charges are still pending against the sixth defendant, Austin Renaud. Price committed suicide following what prosecutors described as weeks of systematic bullying and harassment. Several high-profile cases of bullying and cyber bullying have brought the topic into the national spotlight, culminating in the Obamas' hosting policymakers and advocates at a White House conference on bullying prevention. For more information on the White House bullying summit, see http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/8/5.1.full.

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