Seven teens arrested for videotaped attacks in upstate N.Y.

ALBANY, N.Y. - Seven teenagers have been charged in three separate incidents of luring their peers to several areas in an upstate New York village, beating them and videotaping the attacks, despite pleas to be let go from two of the victims, authorities said Monday.

The arrests were made after authorities obtained cellphone video images from three attacks that occurred in May in Hudson Falls, 45 miles north of Albany. Different groups of teens - three boys and four girls between the ages of 14 and 17 - were involved in the attacks, which the suspects videotaped and shared with others via their electronic devices, said village police Sgt. John Kibling.

The 14- and 15-year-olds have been charged in juvenile court with conspiracy to commit assault, Kibling said. Two 17-year-old girls were charged with child endangerment and will be prosecuted as adults.

The attacks, first reported by The Post-Star of Glens Falls, occurred at a home, outside a convenience store and at the high school in Hudson Falls, a Hudson River community of about 7,200 residents.

An 18-year-old suffered a concussion when her head was slammed into a locker at Hudson Falls High School, Kibling said. Police say two other victims, a boy and a girl, both 15, suffered bumps and bruises.

In the first videotaped attack, one of the accused girls lured the 15-year-old boy to her home on May 1. The girl's boyfriend showed up and he and another teen repeatedly punched the boy while a third teen recorded it, according to authorities. The victim twice asked to be allowed to leave before his assailants finally let him go, police said.

"He just wanted to leave," said Kibling.

Kibling also said that after being threatened with another beating, the boy brought a knife to school. School administrators were alerted and took the weapon from him, and the school disciplined the teen, police said.

The second attack occurred May 23 in the parking lot of a convenience store, where the 15-year-old girl was punched and then hit in the back of the head as she walked away while telling the group she didn't want to fight, according to police.

In the third assault on May 29, a female suspect attacked the 18-year-old girl from behind and slammed her head into a locker while someone recorded the attack, police said.

"This is a situation where these events are planned," Kibling said. "These kids record these incidents, the victim pleads for help and no one's intervening, then they're taking these devices and sharing it with friends."

Police don't believe any of the videos were posted online.