Two of the six students in South Hadley, Mass., who were charged with bullying 15-year-old Phoebe Prince before her suicide last year, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment charges on Wednesday and received a year's probationeach, plus 100 hours of community service.
The case attracted wide attention after prosecutors brought unusually severe felony charges and because of the poignantstory of Ms. Prince, a newly arrived Irish immigrant who hanged herself after what the prosecutor described as months of bullying. The prosecutor accused the defendants of relentlessly tormenting her and calling her an "Irish slut" after she briefly dated two senior boys.
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 January2010 - 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, wascharged with statutory rape. A trial is scheduled for July 6.
In court filings, the prosecutors described witness accounts of several instances in which the defendants had appeared to harass or threaten Ms. Prince. But accounts of Ms. Prince's prior history of depression and two suicide attempts came to light in defense motions that quoted from her mother's grand jury testimony. Lawyers said this could have undermined the prosecution of the most severe charges.
Ms. Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, told reporters Wednesday that she approved ofthe settlements because the students admitted to crimes while the family avoided the emotional distress of a trial.
via http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/us/05bully.xml
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