Phoebe bullies 'not mean girls' [Independent.ie]
- Published: 06 May 2011
THREE American teenage girls admitted yesterday they participated in the bullying of a 15-year-old girl from Ireland who later committed suicide, with one of the girl's lawyers complaining they had been unfairly demonised as "mean girls".
Sharon Chanon Velazquez (17), Flannery Mullins (18), and Ashley Longe (18), were sentenced to various terms of probation after they admitted to charges in the bullying of Phoebe Prince, a freshman at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts who hanged herself in January 2010.
Prosecutors said Phoebe, who had recently emigrated from Ireland, was hounded by five teens after she briefly dated two boys.
Under a plea deal approved by Phoebe's family, prosecutors agreed to dismiss more serious charges against them.
Velazquez admitted to sufficient facts on a criminal harassment charge, Mullins admitted to a civil rights violation of Phoebe and disturbing a school assembly, while Longe admitted a misdemeanour of criminal harassment and will be on probation until her 19th birthday.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
