Teen gets probation for swarming
No jail for girl who joined mob to beat victim with special needs
A Windsor teen who was part of a mob assault on a young woman with special needs — an attack posted on the internet and since viewed by a million people — was sentenced Monday to 12 months’ probation. Had it not been for her youth — she was 15 at the time of the Nov. 8, 2016, attack at a local McDonald’s — the teen would have been sent to jail, said assistant Crown attorney Jane Magri.
Video of the incident, captured by the pack of attackers and then posted on the internet, attracted more than a million hits on social media, Magri told a sentencing hearing in the Ontario Court of Justice. The video, which shows the victim cowering and wailing as she’s swarmed, verbally abused, spat on and physically attacked, sparked widespread public outrage.
Those who viewed the assault on “an extremely vulnerable person ... (were) abhorred by this conduct,” said Magri. Five teens, ranging in age from 14-19, were charged with assault. The main aggressor, who is seen striking the 19-year-old victim, was sentenced in November to 24 months’ probation. Dylan White, sentenced as an adult, as well as another young offender, received lower probation sentences after both pleaded guilty.
A fifth youth heads to trial in September.
The youth sentenced on Monday can’t be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The victim had been invited by one of the youths, considered to be a friend, to attend the McDonald’s at Wyandotte Street East and Pillette Road. Joining others who stepped out for a smoke, the victim was spat on and baited to fight before being punched and pulled to the ground.
“Why did they have so much hate towards my daughter?” her mother said in a written victim-impact statement read out in court by the prosecutor. She said the incident caused “emotional stress” on family members, who are now more cautious and protective, “drive her everywhere” and check in with her at school.
The mother said her daughter was “emotionally overwhelmed” after the attack and “afraid to go anywhere.”
The mother of the attacker spoke out in court, apologizing to the victim’s family, who weren’t present, saying that both she and her daughter had themselves been victims of bullying. She said her daughter’s actions “not only hurts the victim, but it also hurts us.”
While Windsor police were inundated with calls, Magri said it was through their parents that the young perpetrators themselves came forward to investigators. The bullies quickly became bullied themselves as social media almost instantly named and outed the perpetrators, who were then subjected to threats by those enraged by the cruel attack. Justice Lloyd Dean said it’s important to break the bullying cycle, by “learning from the hurt we felt and the hurt we caused.”
In his ruling, Dean described being bullied himself as a child and that he also became a bully. “As I matured and became more resilient and stronger, I didn’t do it anymore,” he said, adding it was “good fortune or luck” that kept him from being caught himself. And the judge offered an explanation for what some might view as a lenient sentence given in such a horrific incident. He said the law requires young persons to be treated differently, in part due to their lack of maturity.
“We have to be patient and empathetic, not just to victims, but to the perpetrators,” he said. The Crown and defence submitted a joint sentencing recommendation of 12 months probation. Learning that the youth before him, now 17, was four months pregnant, Dean said it was time for her to make better choices in life and not let the fact she was bullied become an excuse in the future. “When you have a child, it’s time for you to be the person you want your child to become,” he said. At the start of her 12-month probation, the young woman must meet with a youth worker and follow any directions on counselling and rehabilitation. She was ordered not to associate or communicate with the other perpetrators or their victim, and she’s banned from possessing any weapons for a two-year period.
The teen must also submit a blood sample to the police DNA databank used to fight crime. Windsor police and the justice system sent a clear message to bullies, the youth’s defence lawyer told reporters Monday, that such behaviour can land the offender, regardless of youth, in front of a judge in criminal court. “She’ll be doing everything she can to make sure her child is not involved in bullying behaviour,” Evie Lipton said.
Lipton said her client, who is taking Grade 12 classes and is on medication for anxiety and depression, had already taken some steps, including seeking counselling and showing remorse by pleading guilty.
We have to be patient and empathetic, not just to victims, but to the perpetrators.