Teenage girls use knife to force autistic boy to perform sex acts

[NCTraveler]

(CNN) -- Two Maryland teenage girls were charged this week with assaulting an autistic boy and recording him on their cell phones performing sex acts, including some with animals, the St. Mary County Sheriff's Department said Wednesday.

A news release from the department said the girls also kicked the boy in the groin and dragged him by his hair. They also got him to walk onto a partially frozen pond. When the boy fell through several times, they made him get out each time by himself, police said.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/12/justice/maryland-teens-assault-autistic-boy/

This level of cruelty leaves me speechless.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. St. Mary's County.

Ugh.

[big_dog]

8. charged as an adult Lauren A. Bush 17

[MADem]

2. Monsters!

They are an argument for keeping teens jailed after they reach adulthood. At least the older one is being charged as an adult.

Despicable.

[NCTraveler]

3. Some things are truly beyond my ability to understand them.

I have no clue what I would like to see done with them. I guess they will be charged and punished to the fullest extent of the law. The problem is, what does that do to help society and themselves when they get out. These two will be roaming the streets within a relatively short time when compared to their actions. Knowing that, I would rather see them in a treatment center than jail or JDC. I do know how wrong that sounds, but with limited therapy in a jail setting, I see no way society will not suffer at their hands again.

[MADem]

4. Maybe they need to do a long stretch, like a ten to 25.

And who knows, maybe, by getting all those weed smokers out of the jails, there will be more resources to deal with fucked up people like Miss Bush and her little pal??

I think she needs incarceration and treatment. Not one or the other--both. Let her have a taste of what it's like to not be in control of events, to not be able to speak up and complain, to have one's way.

What an horrific thing to do to a person with autism. There's a very bright individual locked in that abused kid, he knows what was done to him, he just can't express it.

That's what makes it doubly egregious.

[NCTraveler]

5. Agree with everything you said.

"I think she needs incarceration and treatment." I do agree with that, I just don't think the hours per day of treatment I would like are currently available in the prison system. That is the only reason I said treatment center at all. Knowing they will be out, probably within years, makes me place a priority on treatment.

Our prison system needs an overhaul. If that is where they end up, which I am sure at least one will, they will come out the same vicious animals as they went in.

I am sure that sounds like gibberish. This is evil to the point I am uncertain.

[regnaD kciN]

7. I don't disagree...

...while, at the same time, recognizing that, if it were a group of teenage boys who had done this to an autistic girl, no one -- but no one -- would be calling for "treatment," unless said treatment was inflicted with a rusty knife.

[davidn3600]

10. Pretty much..

Female convicts should get treatment and be reformed. Male convicts should suffer and be locked away.

Some people really feel that way.

[MADem]

15. Well, I wouldn't buy that either.

As I said, incarceration AND treatment. And a good stretch, too. I didn't suggest they get a few months and walk--I said as much as 25 years.

[MADem]

14. I take your point entirely.

Hopefully if we empty the jails of the potheads and other drug "criminals," we'll put the existing resources to better use. It sometimes is the luck of the draw, what prison they wind up in, too.

We can hope anyway, that they'll get some sort of psychiatric help because they sure as hell need it.

[HereSince1628]

12. Treatment for what? As in sensitivity training? Education on criminal behavior?

Just saying treatment suggests a need without specifying

It'd be somewhat unusual for mental illness to be considered as coming in pairs.

[MADem]

13. You want me to play Bill Frist and diagnose from a distance?

I'd put good odds on some sort of personality disorder. Some are more treatable than others. What used to be termed "borderline" -- or maybe narcissistic personality disorder.

The younger one is going to be out inside of ten even if she gets the max, assuming there's rules on the books that limit juvenile offenders to not being kept after their 25th birthday (typical in most places). That one will probably claim that they were a "follower" of the older one.

The 17 year old will be tried as an adult, all bets are off as to how much time she will do.

[HereSince1628]

16. No I didn't want that. I wanted to know what treatment you were suggesting

because it begs the question left hanging by your comment. My interest is what treatment is known to reduce partnering in criminally abusive behavior?

[MADem]

17. Well, you need a diagnosis to suggest a treatment, yes?

Take 2 aspirin and call me in the morning doesn't quite cut it!

Assuming it's, say, BPD, then you'd start with something on these lines:

http://ftp.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder/index.shtml

[HereSince1628]

18. I understand, you thought some therapy would be required

to meet your presumption that some mental illness would be present.

You didn't have a particular illness in mind.

[MADem]

20. I am not a doctor. A doctor will have to examine the patient and come to conclusions about the

person, and prescribe a course of treatment.

I can't have an illness in mind, because I'm not qualified to diagnose, and I am not Bill Frist. I was merely indulging in a bit of idle speculation. I don't think my SWAG on this matter is completely out of the blue, though--that's as likely a guess (and it's just a guess) as a number of other potential causes.

I do know that child ain't right in the head. No one could do that kind of thing to a disabled young man and be what anyone would regard as "normal."

[Yo_Mama]

21. There's no treatment for just being a sick, cruel human being

That's the point being made here. And it is a good one.

[MADem]

22. Well, I don't think that being a "sick, cruel human being" is a natural state.

I think it's a psychological handicap.

Children learn what they live, many of them.

Some people just don't have empathy.

I think most people wouldn't--all things being equal--choose to be a fucking vicious asshole. There's got to be some mental health pathology going on there.

[phil89]

27. So their psychological state was unnatural?

Is there any research to support that people are not naturally cruel? Most of history seems to suggest it imo.

[MADem]

30. Welcome to DU ;

I think people who are cruel are unnatural. Most people aren't cruel. A few are. They're abnormal in my view.

Maybe you're confusing unnatural with unusual or unique.

[Yo_Mama]

29. I think it is natural in humans not to have empathy in some circumstances.

There are some things we learn from our culture, and "we don't do that" is one of those things.

But at least the 17 year old here is beyond the normal "natural" human capacity for sadism.

Some things we choose to be. Some people do choose to be a fucking vicious asshole.

[MADem]

31. As I've said elsewhere, I think those vicious types aren't the norm.

They're the exception to the rule.

Most people are pretty decent. They may not all be MLKs or Clara Bartons, but they're OK folks that aren't mean or nasty.

It's the few a-holes who get all the attention, because they act like jerks.

[Yo_Mama]

32. I take your point

Of course you are right, because otherwise life would be hellish.

But this is beyond jerkdom. This is vicious sadism. All I could think of was "They need to spay this bitch before they let her out." I know that's awful, but some people make themselves worse than animals. One can't wish for a 17 year old to be locked up forever, but no helpless individual should ever be left under her control.

[MADem]

35. She's got some curious looking eyes.

Spacing is strange, the epicanthal folds look a bit unusual.

Almost looks like fetal alcohol syndrome...and if she was a drunk baby, that means she had at least one, possibly two, drunk parents.

That kind of thing can affect judgment, intellect, impulse control, etc.

Not excusing...just speculating as to possible explanations for such shitty-nutty behavior.

[HereSince1628]

23. Well, I know -that- statement reflects your certainty in yourself

Nothing wrong with having confidence, if you know its limits.

It's an assertion, maybe not a wild assed guess, but surely a presumption on scant evidence, not suitable as a diagnosis, and it meets little of the requirements of the assessment structure in play.

But, the appeal to authority isn't an appeal to the evidence required by case definitions for the diagnoses you've presented.

As I would guess you are aware deviant behavior is NOT considered sufficient evidence to declare a mental illness the APA and international psychological associations all agree on that...

"No one could do that kind of thing to a disabled young man and be what anyone would regard as "normal." Well, that certainly begs the meaning of normal. Well, that's pretty much the definition of deviant.

It's one thing recognize deviant behavior that warrant an assessment, it's another to go ahead and label without the assessment. It's also another to expect the affective state of mind that a priori asserts "MONSTERS" to yield an assessment that's robustly free of conformational bias.

[MADem]

26. Well, I'm not at all certain. I'm just SWAGging, here.

I'm not appealing to anything, never mind authority--I'm just having a speculative conversation, and expressing an opinion or two.

I don't think this young woman is "not guilty by reason of insanity." I think she's fucked up, needs a shrink, and needs some time in jail, too.

But that's just an opinion. Like my view that these two, torturing an autistic kid like they did, are monsters.

[leeroysphitz]

24. Lobotomy? n/t

[Prophet 451]

33. Unusual, yes, but not unheard of

Most cases of criminal pairings are cases where the psychologically stronger partner pushes the more passive partner into it but there are a few cases (known as "folie a deux&quot where the two partners are both egging one another on (for example, Fred & Rose West or Leonard Lake & Charles Ng).

That said, true folie a deux is incredibly rare.

[bigdarryl]

6. Sick fucks lock there asses up

[lunatica]

9. Throw the whole damn book at them

Lock them up for a long time. They're disgusting, despicable and dangerous. I hope the boy recovers, though I fear he won't.

[RiffRandell]

11. Disgusting.

Sickos...they should be in jail for a long time.

[derby378]

19. Nutraloaf. Every meal, every day.

At least for a couple of months - by that time, these two predators will gladly throttle each other over a cup of macaroni and cheese.

I'm sounding too much like that gladiator prison in Idaho, right? Time for a dandelion break.

[Initech]

25. WTF is wrong with some people??

[fujiyama]

28. Stop the fucking planet.

I want to get off. I wish I had not even read the headline.

[penultimate]

36. If the Earth stopped spinning suddenly, the atmosphere would still be in motion with the Earth's

If the Earth stopped spinning suddenly, the atmosphere would still be in motion with the Earth's original 1100 mile per hour rotation speed at the equator. All of the land masses would be scoured clean of anything not attached to bedrock. This means rocks, topsoil, trees, buildings, your pet dog, and so on, would be swept away into the atmosphere. Also, the magnetic field of the Earth is generated by a dynamo effect that involves its rotation. If the Earth stopped rotating, it's magnetic field would no longer be regenerated and it would decay away to some low, residual value due to the very small component which is 'fossilized' in its iron-rich rocks. There would be no more 'northern lights' and the Van Allen radiation belts would probably vanish, as would our protection from cosmic rays and other high-energy particles. This is a significant biohazard.

I'm not certain if stopping the planet would be the best way to leave, as doing so would cause much havoc. Your best bet would be to hitch a ride on a rocket that can propel into orbit. Although I'm not sure what your options will be once you get there. There is the space station, but you'll still have to deal with other humans. So you'd most likely also have to build your own space station or colonize something like the moon or Mars. Both would be extremely difficult for a single person to accomplish. However, if manage to successfully carry out a plan of complete world domination, you may be able to direct the entire planet's resources toward giving your very own personal Mars colony. It sounds like a lot of work though.

[flvegan]

34. Only question I have is why?

They admitted it (according to the article). For what reason?

And then if it's all true, somebody please ask the parents of these delicate flowers for a spay/neuter so they have no more little monsters. One has to be a very special kind of waste of space to participate in this.

[KinMd]

37. If they're convicted on the child porn charge..

they'll have to register as sex offenders. Have a nice life with that on your resume