4th Teen Arrested In Videotaped Beating

(CBS/AP)  A fourth teenager was arrested Monday in the beating of a girl that was recorded on video camera and broadcast on the Internet, police said.

The 16-year-old North Babylon boy, who recorded the Dec. 18 beating of a 13-year-old girl by three other girls, surrendered to police Monday afternoon and was charged with unlawful assembly, Suffolk County police said.

He was released on $100 station house bail and was told to appear in court March 22.

Earlier this month police arrested two 14-year-old girls and a 13-year-old girl on charges of juvenile delinquency and attempted assault in the beating at a high school.

The video was shown on Web sites including YouTube and MySpace, which are popular with young people.

After the incident, a group including the attackers can be seen running away, then laughing and boasting about how easily they overcame the girl. The image turns fuzzy, making it appear as though the person holding the camera is running with the group.

The victim's parents were initially hesitant to press charges, but chose to go ahead when the video gained public attention and was broadcast on several news shows, police said.

On Monday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said he hoped the boy's arrest would send a message to youths.

"I hope this arrest, which we expect to be the final arrest in this case, makes it clear that we are taking this abhorrent behavior very seriously," Levy said in a statement.

He said he hoped young people would get the message "that bullying or physically abusing peers is serious and unacceptable, not entertainment fodder for a Web site."

[jmcfan]

this is just unbelievable! i feel like, if these girls have this type of disregard for a human life they shouldnt even see the light of day again!!! EVER, and i dont care how long they live! this is not how you treat people, period! i just cant fathem in my mind how young people, or anyone for that matter, could be so heartless!!! plainly pathetic! if i was the victims parent, i honestly dont know if i could handle this situation rationally!!! those girls need to meet their match and be on the receiving end, i bet it wouldnt be so cool then!!

[teeus]

"Take the kids who did this, beat them to within an inch of thier lives every day until they are unrecognizable, throw them into a filth filled damp cell for 50 years and feed them rat $h1t after their teeth are all yanked out of their sick litle heads."

Ooooooookaaaaaaayyy...Maybe we could come up with something BETWEEN letting them off and the draconian thumbscrews. I'm just saying...

[eloquin]

The perpetrators are not teenage girls but rather vicious animals. To imply that the young lady who was brutally beaten and humiliated "Deserved" it or "pissed" someone off, demonstrates other animals. I say throw them in a pin and toss is some raw bones for them to knaw on.

[ekucrew]

So called "tough" girls like those that participated in the beating turn into crying, blubbering cowards when they are tossed into a JD treatment centers with girls 10X tougher than they ever thought they were....if they don't fall in line quick, then they are "grouped" by their peers until they do fall in line with the rules of the facility.

Hopefully someone will videotape them during a grouping, post it on the internet, and then thousands will laugh at them while they bawl for their Momma.

[caragat]

"this was not a gang beating she would be near death if it was, that girl obv. did somthing to **** them off. " Posted by samibarry at 12:37 PM : Jan 30, 2007

It doesn't matter if she did something to make them angry it doesn't give someone the right to physically harm you in anyway. We are supposed to live in a civilized society and there just is no excuse for handling something this way.

It is just a way to get attention. To post a video on myspace, and other "spaces" that are NOT restrictive are "cool" to today's youth. In my day it would have the same impact as what a bully would want. Give the idea and fines and imprisonment to their parents. Make it stick. If they do, they should go home after their incarceration and kick the cr@p out of their kid bullies in hopes they may repent. Toss the offenders in there too. Seems we never learn without a little suffering first. I know of the story of recent high school geek (which I label myself) bringing a weapon to school to equalize the tortures of bullies. The schools more than often turn their heads and run.

[wendyhoo-2009]

The problem is that as a parent we are not allowed to put the good ole fashion *** whooping down like we use to get. God forbid your child has a cut or a bruise the schools automatically calls social services then call you and tell you they are on the way to your house. Only after social services clears things with you and feel it is probably safe then you can go to the school and pick up your child but everything is still under investigation. Even if your child got that bruise from playing with the younger child you still have to be held over the fire for that. I remember when I was in school the principle had the authority to spank my rear if a principle even looks at a kid wrong now a days they are fired and put on the front page for abuse or whatever. Granted as a mother now I seriously do not want a teacher or any other authority other then me or my husband spanking my child but we can't do it either in eyes of the law or your kids are removed from you. GEEZ this is why we all need the *** super nanny. Like someone said the children KNOW IT and they use it against you. So therefore these children wont learn because they wont get the *** whooping they should get like I am sure thier parents got back in the day.

[diverinnl]

Charging or fining the parents is assinine. I would hate to think what you people would do to Ted Bundy's parents or the parents of any other violence charged individual. When are the people of this country going to get back to taking responsibility for their own actions? It's a festering disease that is eating at the core of the population and until we punish those who have committed the crime and hold them accountable, it will continue to be a problem.
Posted by Buzzman1964 at 01:16 PM : Jan 30, 2007

Buzz, a primary reason my friends and I didn't get into behavior like this when we were kids was the fear of our parents AND the law. If I broke a neighbors window, my father would have to pay for it and I knew that I would pay for it in spades in return. There were consequences both legally and in the home. My parents didn't pacify my "feelings". It was good or bad, right or wrong. I paid for the decisions I made either way. Kids today, and I see it in my kids friends, have little to no consequences because parents are not held responsible or accountable for the public behavior of their juvinile children under their care.

With regards to your reference to Ted Bundy, he was an adult.

[buzzman1964]

Charging or fining the parents is assinine. I would hate to think what you people would do to Ted Bundy's parents or the parents of any other violence charged individual. When are the people of this country going to get back to taking responsibility for their own actions? It's a festering disease that is eating at the core of the population and until we punish those who have committed the crime and hold them accountable, it will continue to be a problem.

[samibarry]

this was not a gang beating she would be near death if it was, that girl obv. did somthing to **** them off.