Two Students Plead Guilty In Bullying Of Teenager (Phoebe Prince)

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Source: The New York Times

Two of the six students in South Hadley, Mass., who were charged with bullying a 15-year-old girl before her suicide last year pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment charges on Wednesday and received a year’s probation each, plus 100 hours of community service.

The suicide of the girl, Phoebe Prince, and the circumstances surrounding it attracted wide attention after prosecutors brought unusually severe felony charges and because of the poignant story of Ms. Prince, a newly arrived Irish immigrant who hanged herself after what the prosecutor described as months of bullying. The defendants were accused of relentlessly tormenting Ms. Prince and calling her an “Irish slut” after she briefly dated two boys in the senior class.

The two students who pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey, had both faced more serious felony charges, including violation of Ms. Prince’s civil rights and causing bodily injury — in effect, contributing to her death in January 2010 — with a potential sentence of 10 years. Three other former students facing similar charges as youthful offenders are scheduled to appear in juvenile court on Thursday, and it appeared likely that they would receive similar deals.

A sixth former student, Austin Renaud, was charged with statutory rape. A trial is scheduled for July 6.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/us/05bully.html

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AARGH! I knew it! Guilty plea = probation and community service. Do you think it's enough or insufficient? Bottom line is, these teens need to learn not to do this ever again to another person. Would juvenile hall have rehabilitated them?