The considerable weight carried by a vicious 30-minute attack against a 16-year-old Florida girl, which was videoed for the express purpose of posting to YouTube, has now led to a total of eight teenagers facing the distinct possibility of jail after a state attorney decided to try them all as adults.
Sadly not the sort of beating administered by a group of angry teens in Florida. Credit: Endlisnis/Flickr.
According to Chip Thullbery, spokesman for the Polk County state attorney, the six girls and two boys in the case, who range between 14 and 18 years of age, are all being accused of kidnapping (a first-degree felony) and battery for their part in the brutal attack. Further to that, three of the suspects have been charged with tampering with a witness.
In the video clip, which was released into the public domain by the sheriff’s office (and subsequently posted to YouTube), the 16-year-old victim is shown suffering slaps and punches from various girls. She is also shown pleading with her attackers to stop and then curled into a defensive foetal position while blows continue to rain down upon her.
The eight teenagers charged for taking part in the attack, which took place on March 30, have reportedly said that the girl’s beating was administered as a form of retaliation for the alleged posting of insults to the Internet.
CNN reports that Victoria Lindsay, who hails from Lakeland and was hospitalised as a result of the attack, is struggling with blurred vision, hearing loss and facial swelling. The physical part of the attack was delivered by the six girls involved, with the two boys apparently serving as lookouts during the 30-minute period.
The Polk County sheriff has said that one of the main aims of the attack was to follow the girl’s physical beating with prolonged personal humiliation through a widely watched YouTube video posting -- a trend, particularly between girls, that has gathered a worrying amount of online traction and seen psychologists label such videoed violence as the next stage in cyber bulling.
The teenage attackers, who the sheriff said showed no signs of remorse and openly laughed and joked about their actions when arrested, are scheduled for their first appearance in court today.
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