janelle
05-16-2003, 12:47 PM
Teens charged in school hazing
15 accused
of misdemeanor
battery of girls
A bucket flies through the air during a touch football game between Glenbrook North High School girls that turned into a brawl on May 4 in Northbrook, Ill. The image is taken from amateur video.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO, May 16 — A dozen girls and three boys accused of participating in the brutal hazing of junior girls from a suburban Chicago high school have been charged with misdemeanor battery, prosecutors announced Friday.
Misdemeanor battery charges carry a maximum sentence of nearly a year in jail, Gorman said.
THE STUDENTS — all 17- and 18-year-old seniors — were charged as adults in the May 4 incident, authorities said.
“It is simply the kind of behavior that any community cannot tolerate and will not tolerate,” Cook County State’s Attorney Dick Devine said in announcing the charges.
The investigation is continuing and further charges were possible, Devine said.
The students are accused of participating in a melee in a Cook County park that was captured on videotape.
Glenbrook North High School senior girls are shown on the tapes beating juniors and covering them with mud, paint, feces and garbage in what was originally supposed to be a “powder puff” football game. Five girls ended up in the hospital.
Misdemeanor battery charges carry a maximum sentence of nearly a year in jail.
“I want to stress that this is not a situation in which we have what you would call a harmless prank,” Devine said.
The school, in the affluent suburb of Northbrook, has suspended 32 students who officials claim took part in the hazing. Although the event was off-campus and not sanctioned by the school, officials have said state and local school codes allow the 10-day suspensions.
Principal Michael Riggle says the school is recommending the students be expelled. Expulsion would bar them from the campus and school activities such as prom and graduation ceremonies, although they would still receive a diploma.
Some students have filed lawsuits to overturn the suspensions. Others are going through the school’s appeals process.
Students are shown on the videotape hoisting cups of beer, and police continue to investigate whether any adults provided alcohol for the event.
Devine said there was “a tremendous lack of information coming from the community” about who provided alcohol.
“When everybody you talk to says they have a lawyer and don’t want to talk to you, there’s an issue,” he said. “And the issue for this community is whether people are going to come forward and are going to talk to law enforcement.”
Providing alcohol to a minor is a misdemeanor.
The students agreed to turn themselves in later Friday at the sheriff’s office in Skokie, said Steve Goebel, an assistant state’s attorney. Bond is to be set at $1,000 for each, and their next court date is June 11.
15 accused
of misdemeanor
battery of girls
A bucket flies through the air during a touch football game between Glenbrook North High School girls that turned into a brawl on May 4 in Northbrook, Ill. The image is taken from amateur video.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO, May 16 — A dozen girls and three boys accused of participating in the brutal hazing of junior girls from a suburban Chicago high school have been charged with misdemeanor battery, prosecutors announced Friday.
Misdemeanor battery charges carry a maximum sentence of nearly a year in jail, Gorman said.
THE STUDENTS — all 17- and 18-year-old seniors — were charged as adults in the May 4 incident, authorities said.
“It is simply the kind of behavior that any community cannot tolerate and will not tolerate,” Cook County State’s Attorney Dick Devine said in announcing the charges.
The investigation is continuing and further charges were possible, Devine said.
The students are accused of participating in a melee in a Cook County park that was captured on videotape.
Glenbrook North High School senior girls are shown on the tapes beating juniors and covering them with mud, paint, feces and garbage in what was originally supposed to be a “powder puff” football game. Five girls ended up in the hospital.
Misdemeanor battery charges carry a maximum sentence of nearly a year in jail.
“I want to stress that this is not a situation in which we have what you would call a harmless prank,” Devine said.
The school, in the affluent suburb of Northbrook, has suspended 32 students who officials claim took part in the hazing. Although the event was off-campus and not sanctioned by the school, officials have said state and local school codes allow the 10-day suspensions.
Principal Michael Riggle says the school is recommending the students be expelled. Expulsion would bar them from the campus and school activities such as prom and graduation ceremonies, although they would still receive a diploma.
Some students have filed lawsuits to overturn the suspensions. Others are going through the school’s appeals process.
Students are shown on the videotape hoisting cups of beer, and police continue to investigate whether any adults provided alcohol for the event.
Devine said there was “a tremendous lack of information coming from the community” about who provided alcohol.
“When everybody you talk to says they have a lawyer and don’t want to talk to you, there’s an issue,” he said. “And the issue for this community is whether people are going to come forward and are going to talk to law enforcement.”
Providing alcohol to a minor is a misdemeanor.
The students agreed to turn themselves in later Friday at the sheriff’s office in Skokie, said Steve Goebel, an assistant state’s attorney. Bond is to be set at $1,000 for each, and their next court date is June 11.