The Trials Of Phoebe Prince

Holden Caulfield

On RTE1 tonight at 10.35pm.

Horrific story. Going to watch it even though it's going to make me pretty sad and angry.

concrndstudent

Holden Caulfield wrote: »

On RTE1 tonight at 10.35pm.

Horrific story. Going to watch it even though it's going to make me pretty sad and angry.

I'm a student at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA USA and anti-bullying concerns are a special interest to me. I've tried repeatedly to contact RLE to see if I can get a copy of this documentary and I've not gotten a reply. If you might be able to record it I'd be glad to help cover reasonable costs to get a file to me with the documentary. If you do record it and want to share it, please reply. It will not be used for any sort of commercial or broadcast purpose. This will be of special interest as it has a lot of material from interviews with different parties including Phoebe's dad that hasn't been broadcast or covered in the media. Thanks! ---Amy

Little Acorn

Watching it now. The defense leaked their defense argument to a local newspaper journalist, and she published all of Phoebe's mental health history. I can't believe that they are allowed to leak court documents before the actual case starts, but their laws are different to ours.

BigBrownBear

Very sad to watch and very tragic too.
It seems to me based on Phobe's fragile state of mind even before she started in that High School, that this bullying was the straw that broke the camels back.
But their defence will be she was possibly disturbed anyway

concrndstudent

Little Acorn wrote: »

Watching it now. The defense leaked their defense argument to a local newspaper journalist, and she published all of Phoebe's mental health history. I can't believe that they are allowed to leak court documents before the actual case starts, but their laws are different to ours.

Information, factual or not, about Phoebe's mental health issues came from multiple sources, officially from filings by the accused students asking for documents on her mental health history, and unofficially through rumors spread online. Most otherwise healthy, rational people who commit suicide have mental health issues of course, in particular some sort of situational depression.

It's all the more common today for students having any sort of difficulty adjusting in school or with anything having to do with behavioral or psychological issues to see doctors and be prescribed medication. I'm not saying that was an issue with Phoebe, but there are proportionally many more adolescents and older children on antidepressents or mood stabilizers, like the Prozac and Seroquel that Phoebe was said to have been prescribed.

It's hard to write about this of course without documents to refer to, but it's reasonable to say that in most suicides there are mental health issues and maybe a history of depression or some sort of self-destructive behavior, which may have seemed to others like tolerable or reasonable reactions to stresses or situations in their environment.

But the point should be made that if one has mental health issues or some sort of vulnerability -- and it seems like Phoebe was an easily isolated and targetable victim to those who bullied and took advantage of her -- it should be said that for thearpy or psychotropic drugs to work that the environment the young person is in is CRITICAL. If the environment is unhealthy, as it semeed to be for Phoebe and that's one of the main points I think that Mr Prince will make in this documentary, if it's unhealthy one can see how easy it is for the victim to become despondent, and maybe get much, much worse as seemed to be the case for Phoebe right before her suicide.

This is why the school is part at fault here because there were numerous parties who knew of her history of being bullied, her somewhat half-hearted suicide attempt around last Thanksgiving after breaking up with Sean, head of the football team, and finally of various incidents of serious harassment that were witnessed by a few of the staff or teachers. The school should have taken the harassment much more seriously than they did, and they could have done so but it seems they didn't think they had to have in place processes to do so -- and that seemed to be one of the reasons for many parent's outrage after Phoebe's suicide, expressed by numbers like dozens or maybe more than a hundred who turned out to town and school meetings where bullying issues were discussed.

Oh and yes I'm a psychology major, and adolescent psychology is what I want to study in grad school. So a bit of professional/student interest in the topic. Anyway, if anyone does record this please email me at sschoice@bellsouth.net or reply, I'll work with you to see how I can best get a copy.

Holden Caulfield

I recorded it on Sky+.

No idea if it's possible to get from there onto a disk though.

YohanCabeye7

www.rte.ie/player should have it streaming from tomorrow for the next month, like all programs.

That might be unavailable in the U.S.A. I don't know.

Maybe someone might post in on youtube also.

concrndstudent

Holden Caulfield wrote: »

I recorded it on Sky+.

No idea if it's possible to get from there onto a disk though.

Catcher in the Rye, I'll find a way.

I suppose Sky+ is some sort of Tivo or timeshifting video recorder? It probably has composite video and audio outputs to which some sort of external recorded like a VCR or video camera with a video input could be connected. Of course, I don't know what your resources are. You can PM or email me at my email sschoice at bellsouth.net and I'll be further in touch with you as you like. But if anyone else recorded it and wants to try to get a copy to a US psychology student very much interested in the issue please post a reply and I'll be in touch with you too. ----Amy

(edit) PS to YohanCabeye7, I just went to that link and at least some videos are viewable, so if the website does stream it I may be able to see it that way. I really don't even so much need good video, a transcript would do for my purposes but I haven't figured out how to do that either. Anyway thanks and I'll appreciate knowing of anyone else who may have recorded it.

Little Acorn

concrndstudent wrote: »

Information, factual or not, about Phoebe's mental health issues came from multiple sources, officially from filings by the accused students asking for documents on her mental health history, and unofficially through rumors spread online. Most otherwise healthy, rational people who commit suicide have mental health issues of course, in particular some sort of situational depression.

It's all the more common today for students having any sort of difficulty adjusting in school or with anything having to do with behavioral or psychological issues to see doctors and be prescribed medication. I'm not saying that was an issue with Phoebe, but there are proportionally many more adolescents and older children on antidepressents or mood stabilizers, like the Prozac and Seroquel that Phoebe was said to have been prescribed.

It's hard to write about this of course without documents to refer to, but it's reasonable to say that in most suicides there are mental health issues and maybe a history of depression or some sort of self-destructive behavior, which may have seemed to others like tolerable or reasonable reactions to stresses or situations in their environment.

But the point should be made that if one has mental health issues or some sort of vulnerability -- and it seems like Phoebe was an easily isolated and targetable victim to those who bullied and took advantage of her -- it should be said that for thearpy or psychotropic drugs to work that the environment the young person is in is CRITICAL. If the environment is unhealthy, as it semeed to be for Phoebe and that's one of the main points I think that Mr Prince will make in this documentary, if it's unhealthy one can see how easy it is for the victim to become despondent, and maybe get much, much worse as seemed to be the case for Phoebe right before her suicide.

This is why the school is part at fault here because there were numerous parties who knew of her history of being bullied, her somewhat half-hearted suicide attempt around last Thanksgiving after breaking up with Sean, head of the football team, and finally of various incidents of serious harassment that were witnessed by a few of the staff or teachers. The school should have taken the harassment much more seriously than they did, and they could have done so but it seems they didn't think they had to have in place processes to do so -- and that seemed to be one of the reasons for many parent's outrage after Phoebe's suicide, expressed by numbers like dozens or maybe more than a hundred who turned out to town and school meetings where bullying issues were discussed.

Oh and yes I'm a psychology major, and adolescent psychology is what I want to study in grad school. So a bit of professional/student interest in the topic. Anyway, if anyone does record this please email me at sschoice@bellsouth.net or reply, I'll work with you to see how I can best get a copy.

Yes I agree the school authorities definitely hold responsibility in this case too.
What is your opinion on the teenagers involved?
Do you think that they should be charged with contributing to her suicide?
I can't remember the legal term for this charge, it was something like "restriction of civil rights resulting in bodily harm".
Or do you agree with the defense that because she may have some history of being bullied before/self harming/overdose etc., that because of this all charges against these teenagers should be dismissed?

[I didn't get this recorded, but it might possibly be on youtube or surf the channel in the coming weeks.]

concrndstudent

Little Acorn wrote: »

Yes I agree the school authorities definitely hold responsibility in this case too.
What is your opinion on the teenagers involved?
Do you think that they should be charged with contributing to her suicide?
I can't remember the legal term for this charge, it was something like "restriction of civil rights resulting in bodily harm".
Or do you agree with the defense that because she may have some history of being bullied before/self harming/overdose etc., that because of this all charges against these teenagers should be dismissed?

My opinion is that based on numerous reports in the press and the indictments which the DA's office has released to the press that Phoebe suffered harassment and intimidation which completely disrupted her right to an education in the school she was enrolled in, and as well was a victim of simple assault with the throwing of the energy drink can at her head on the day she committed suicide. I think it is reasonable that civil rights and harassment laws be applied in this case and that the charges related to this that have been filed are appropriate.

From the perspective of one who is trying to understand the story as told by the media and the court documents which have been made public I think that's the most one can say specifically about the charges. The offenses committed again Phoebe were serious enough for the courts to be involved, school discipline isn't enough and certainly wouldn't have been enough at that school which had so many problems dealing with cases like these, and on the other hand I don't want to say the students ought to be charged with something like homicide.

I can't see everything the DA (district attorney, the government party that is prosecuting the case) has seen in this case but it seems reasonable for civil rights and harassment laws to be applied here as they have been. I wish the press had been more emphatic about this being an issue of civil rights and harassment and not gotten sidetracked with the fuzzier concept of "bullying" much less "cyberbullying" which wasn't involved significantly or her mental health issues which surely were secondary and to a great extent worsened by the harassment she suffered.

Given the extent of harassment she suffered at school and the meaning that harassment would be expected to have on a young woman, I think it's reasonable to see what happened to her to be likely to cause great distress and harm, if not self-harm. I think the accused students wanted Phoebe to suffer and -- I think it's reasonable to speculate this -- to drop out of school or otherwise go away and out of their lives, but I don't think they intended for her to kill herself.

I think the issue of her suicide in January and her previous suicide attempt and mental health issues are red herrings which I would expect the defense and people not familiar with (or supportive of) civil rights laws to try to shift focus to, but if they are an issue, her response to the bullying -- fear, withdrawal, asking school officials for help while at the same time continuing to attend school as of course she has to and wants to (and I think the thought of dropping out or going to a different school to likely have been disagreeable and probably further humiliating to her) -- I think Phoebe's responses and overall behavior is what one might expect many young women to do. The issue of her previous suicide attempt and moderate problems she's had with mental health issues suggest ever deeper responsibility those who bullied her and those who knew to varying degrees about those aspects of her situation. It was known that she was vulnerable and was being harassed, and the response of school officials was inadequate. That's being changed, and besides letting the courts and the school authorities do their job we can only try to learn what we can from what happened to help prevent situations and events like this from happening to other students -- and there are many others like Phoebe, to be sure.

For those of you in Ireland who have been following this story and have been upset over what happened, I want to say I'm sorry for what happened to Phoebe. You and we lost a bright, talented, sensitive young student with her passing. I want to play some role in helping make sure it doesn't happen again.

Little Acorn

concrndstudent wrote: »

My opinion is that based on numerous reports in the press and the indictments which the DA's office has released to the press that Phoebe suffered harassment and intimidation which completely disrupted her right to an education in the school she was enrolled in, and as well was a victim of simple assault with the throwing of the energy drink can at her head on the day she committed suicide. I think it is reasonable that civil rights and harassment laws be applied in this case and that charges related to this are likely very reasonable. I can't see everything the DA (district attorney, the government party that is prosecuting the case) has seen in this case but it seems reasonable that civil rights and harassment laws are applied here.

And really the issue of her suicide in January and her previous suicide attempt mental health issues are red herrings which I might expect the defense and maybe some not familiar with civil rights laws to try to bring up, but if they are an issue, her response to the bullying -- fear, withdrawal, asking school officials for help -- are reasonable things for her to do and also they suggest ever deeper responsibility those who bullied her and those who knew to varying degrees about those aspects of her situation. It was known that she was vulnerable and was being harassed, and the response of school officials was inadequate. That's being changed, and besides letting the courts and the school authorities do their job we can only try to learn what we can from what happened to help prevent situations and events like this from happening to other students -- and there are many others like Phoebe, to be sure.

For those of you in Ireland who have been following this story and have been upset over what happened, I want to say I'm sorry for what happened to Phoebe. You and we lost a bright, talented, sensitive young student with her passing. I want to play some role in helping make sure it doesn't happen again.

I hope they get charged. Although I'm not sure about Austin Renaud, because it said in that documentary he is not being charged with any bullying/ harassment whatsoever, and that he may actually have been friends with and kind to Phoebe, yet his charge statutory rape carries a longer sentence than the others who did bully Phoebe- he could receive a maximum of life![so it said in documentary]

I would definitely like to see the rest face charges though.
It also said that a new DA is to start there in January, and that it will be his decision whether or not to dismiss all these charges, or else go to trial.
I would be very angry if those teenagers didn't even have to go to trial.

concrndstudent

Little Acorn wrote: »

I hope they get charged. Although I'm not sure about Austin Renaud, because it said in that documentary he is not being charged with any bullying/ harassment whatsoever, and that he may actually have been friends with and kind to Phoebe, yet his charge statutory rape carries a longer sentence than the others who did bully Phoebe- he could receive a maximum of life![so it said in documentary]

I would definitely like to see the rest face charges though.
It also said that a new DA is to start there in January, and that it will be his decision whether or not to dismiss all these charges, or else go to trial.
I would be very angry if those teenagers didn't even have to go to trial.

I have to run or I'd comment more. You can be sure that the DA's office will continue to press this case. I have to say that they probably are open to some sort of plea deal to avoid a trial but they're not going to drop the case. It will seem frustrating if it doesn't go to trial but if that happens it does NOT mean that the charges as filed were inappropriate. It will mean at LEAST that some charges were appropriate if a plea deal is made.

And as far as Austin goes, the further one gets away from the worst abuse which maybe four people participated in the harder it's going to be to see criminal charges as appropriate. Statutory rape charges always require some sort of explaination or further justification to be filed, and it would be inappropriate if Austin is found guilty for him to get, what, life? That won't happen. But he was involved with Phoebe and probably was close friends with the others and in Sean's case statutory rape charges are probably more appropriate. Charge Sean and it follows that Austin would be charged. But I think it's highly likely he's cooperating with the DA and making the case that he cared about and tried to help Phoebe and he's been quoted as saying he tried to stop the bullying. So he potentially will be a great help to the prosecution in pursuing at least some of the charges against the others, and that help may be weighed in mitigating the offense he's been seen to have committed. I'm a psych major not a law student, but I think that's a reasonable take on that part of the case.

Little Acorn

concrndstudent wrote: »

I have to run or I'd comment more. You can be sure that the DA's office will continue to press this case. I have to say that they probably are open to some sort of plea deal to avoid a trial but they're not going to drop the case. It will seem frustrating if it doesn't go to trial but if that happens it does NOT mean that the charges as filed were inappropriate. It will mean at LEAST that some charges were appropriate if a plea deal is made.

And as far as Austin goes, the further one gets away from the worst abuse which maybe four people participated in the harder it's going to be to see criminal charges as appropriate. Statutory rape charges always require some sort of explaination or further justification to be filed, and it would be inappropriate if Austin is found guilty for him to get, what, life? That won't happen. But he was involved with Phoebe and probably was close friends with the others and in Sean's case statutory rape charges are probably more appropriate. Charge Sean and it follows that Austin would be charged. But I think it's highly likely he's cooperating with the DA and making the case that he cared about and tried to help Phoebe and he's been quoted as saying he tried to stop the bullying. So he potentially will be a great help to the prosecution in pursuing at least some of the charges against the others, and that help may be weighed in mitigating the offense he's been seen to have committed. I'm a psych major not a law student, but I think that's a reasonable take on that part of the case.

You've made a number of great points there. Thanks for your replies. I'll be paying close attention to see how this case progresses, and if I find a copy of the documentary online, I will post it in this thread.
Cya.:)

Bella mamma

Concrndstudent, as metioned the programme may be accessible on the RTE website. Otherwise they CAN send you a copy. All you have to do is call them/e-mail and ask for their archive department. It's really easy to order it. They always got back to me very promptly. All the best.

Little Acorn

Hi again. The Phoebe Prince documentary is now on RTE Player.
Link:
http://www.rte.ie/player/

It is under Categories

---

>Factual

or else just type it in the search bar.

Unshelved

I hope they get charged. Although I'm not sure about Austin Renaud, because it said in that documentary he is not being charged with any bullying/ harassment whatsoever, and that he may actually have been friends with and kind to Phoebe, yet his charge statutory rape carries a longer sentence than the others who did bully Phoebe- he could receive a maximum of life![so it said in documentary]

I would definitely like to see the rest face charges though.
It also said that a new DA is to start there in January, and that it will be his decision whether or not to dismiss all these charges, or else go to trial.
I would be very angry if those teenagers didn't even have to go to trial.

Leanne Wolfe, a Cork schoolgirl, committed suicide in 2007 after a sustained period of bullying from girls in her class. The case attracted some publicity at the time, but nothing like the coverage that the Phoebe Prince case has had. Why is that? Is it because it's easier to believe that this level of bullying happens somewhere else but not on our doorstep?

RTE radio documentary about Leanne -
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/leanne_wolfe.html

concrndstudent

Thanks to numerous folks here for helping me get a copy of “The Trials of Phoebe Prince.”

I helped made a transcript of it which people following this case I hope will appreciate:

http://album.sschoice.fmgirl.com/20101122_RTE_-_The_Trials_of_Phoebe_Prince_transcript.pdf

Unshelved, I'm sorry to hear of the case you referred to with Leanne Wolfe. I'm in the USA, and the Prince case attracted massive publicity for many reasons: Phoebe immigrated to the USA in September of last year, she attended a public high school in South Hadley, MA, which appears to be very well-run and full of motivated average- to above-average students in a state famous for tolerance, progressive attitudes, and supportive of progressive trends in public education. Phoebe was bullied mostly at school with numerous teachers and staff aware from numerous sources, including other students and Phoebe's mother, of some of the incidents and with one exception no intervention was made by teachers or staff to stop the bullying which took place essentially on their property and on their watch for about 2-3 months before her death by suicide, and the reports the school got from Phoebe's mother and Phoebe herself of the psychological distress she was suffering and an attempted suicide at home by her in November did not seem to make the school pay any special attention to her or to the distress she -- and numerous others including her friends and her mother -- reported her having.

After her death, the school did not clearly respond with sympathy (besides a letter to parents immediately after her death and a vigil held to remember her, at which numerous students talked to the press about the abuse she had suffered and how nothing seemed to have been done about it) and the school did not clearly have any plans or follow through in a coordinated way to investigate and punish the students who bullied her. More because of the severity of her harassment and intimidation -- and assault with a empty drink can as she walked home her last day -- more because of that than because of the inaction of the school, the local DA filed charges against six students associated with the incidents. I'm sure you know much of that, but I wanted to summarize because that will help explain how this has gotten such coverage -- that and the fact that the criminal charges helped spur passage antibullying legislation in Massachusettes and many other states in a very short period of time -- a faster rate of passage of antibullying legislation than the USA has seen since the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, which was covered with similar emphasis in international news.

Thanks for the link to the article, I'll listen to the podcast that it links to. It's good to see that the media here is using this case to educate students about these issues. Offhand it looks like she was suffering physical as well as psychological abuse over years from these other girls, and I have to wonder who she talked to or sought help from over that time. Obviously girls (or boys) in situations like that need to feel like they can turn to others for help, whether it's peers or teachers or counselors or family. I don't want to comment any further on issues of responsibility or where change needs to be made without knowing a lot more but obviously that's where much of the issues are with respect to how to intervene in cases like these and how to prevent harassment from occuring, and all the more so prevent it from getting as bad as it appears to have gotten in Leanne's case.

JonathanAnon

The thing I like about the American justice system is that they are really tough on repeat offenders and sometimes (as in this case) they use the legislation to enforce moral law.... i.e. the people that bullied Phoebe should be punished for their actions, and at the very least be forced to take a long hard look at themselves...

What I dont understand is why Austin Renaud is being prosecuted for statutory rape.... From what I've read, he was a friend of her's .. it's likely that she consented to sleeping with him, (that's if she even did)... and he is not a threat to other women... why are they prosecuting one of the good guys..?

concrndstudent

JonathanAnon wrote: »

The thing I like about the American justice system is that they are really tough on repeat offenders and sometimes (as in this case) they use the legislation to enforce moral law.... i.e. the people that bullied Phoebe should be punished for their actions, and at the very least be forced to take a long hard look at themselves...

What I dont understand is why Austin Renaud is being prosecuted for statutory rape.... From what I've read, he was a friend of her's .. it's likely that she consented to sleeping with him, (that's if she even did)... and he is not a threat to other women... why are they prosecuting one of the good guys..?

I think it's great that it's possible to enforce antiharassment and civil rights laws like this. I definitely don't think that similar punitive measures are warranted in most bullying cases and I don't think that the students involved here necessarily deserve much in the way of jail time, but a message needs to be sent that behavior like this, to this extreme, is criminal and can be punished -- and any sort of criminal prosecution, if it's a first offense, has a massive impact on a young adult's life. It's sad to say that this sets a precedent but it certainly does. It's making civil rights history. And it ought to humble people who report on it, as I'm sure it did with RTE and "Below the Radar" who produced the Phoebe Prince documentary, because their work is becoming part of that history.

Why prosecute Austin? Well, it's alleged he had sex with Phoebe, who was 15 in the alleged timeframe (December 2009), and he was 18 at the time. Sean was 17 and Phoebe was 14 in November when they had their encounter. Her birthday was November 24th according to Wikipedia.

That detail should have been noted, actually, in the documentary -- a reporter in the RTE documentary from the New York Times of all places referred to Phoebe being 15 at the time of the alleged incidents of statutory rape when she was actually 14 with one party, Sean. That may seem to be a small point, but any increase in age difference or decrease in the victim's age makes a big difference overall when one is talking about a vulnerable freshman girl and senior football player(s) and the laws that apply.

Statutory rape laws are meant, I believe, to fill some gap between laws which intended to protect children who are younger 18 but older than roughly the age of puberty, or say 10-13 or so. Before puberty -- except in some pathological cases -- "children" aren't motivated to have and won't, even in their minds, "consent" to have sex. But among young adolescents about 13-14 or so there can be in some cases some motive or desire to have intimate sexual contact and relationships, and while they shouldn’t be expressing that desire by having sex it’s basically normal – or within normal limits – for that desire to exist. Younger adolescents though are very, very vulnerable and for issues mostly related to mental development unable to consent as older adolescents and adults can, and it's for their protection that statutory rape laws are on the books.

Implementing statutory rape laws is difficult, as of course. For one thing, every state has different laws. Also, there is the wide range of situations possible in statutory rape cases. There are a few "Romeo and Juliet" cases where the parties are very close in age and the relationship entirely consensual. The authorities don't want to prosecute those, though there are situations where an irate parent will demand it. More common -- sadly -- are situations which turn out badly even if overt coercion isn't involved, and minors don't want to report them even if they turn out badly because they're ashamed for whatever part of it they might have in their mind at the time consented to, in some cases they are afraid of or intimidated by the offender, and usually they don't want their partner/victimizer to be prosecuted, though of course that may be appropriate especially for older, predatory partners, usually male, of course.

There is very little information that has been made public by the DA about the encounters that Sean had with Phoebe in November except that the breakup that followed was taken badly by Phoebe and it's inferred that Sean initiated the breakup. About Austin, there has been absolutely no information that's been disclosed officially to my knowledge by the DA or the press, and it's reported that Austin denies any sexual contact with her, though it's said they dated and he said he was "close" to her.

In most cases, DAs consider more than age difference in deciding to prosecute statutory rape cases. Statutory rape laws are written to say that because of the age difference or absolute age of the minor(s) involved that the victim (or state) doesn't have to prove that consent was not given. But that doesn't mean that the state wants to prosecute cases where the younger party is close to the age of consent and was in an otherwise nonexploitative relationship. DAs look at many factors, including if there was any substance use, if there was any special role that one party, especially the older party had (like if they were a camp counselor, for example, or in some other position of authority), if the mental state of the younger party was possibly compromised by developmental disability (what some used to call mental retardation), or if there was any hint of pressure or coercion, and the wishes of parents or guardians involved with the alleged victims are considered.

Given all of that, there's ample reason to consider statutory rape charges against Sean, who was very much in a position of authority as leader of the football team and speaker at an antibullying assembly early last fall, if for no other reasons. Also, Sean's actions after the fact (after the sexual encounter) in December and early January make it more likely for his actions to be looked at critically, as he went on to essentially back and in some cases -- especially on the day Phoebe died -- he was present when Phoebe was bullied. He also apparently knew of her psychological distress and may have known -- I don't have a reference I can cite for this but I've heard this is correct -- that he knew she attempted suicide after their breakup. To go on and essentially support others in bullying Phoebe strongly suggests exploitative behavior overall on his part.

As far as Austin goes...well, he may have thought he was being caring and affectionate but while I'm personally very tolerant and supportive of older adolescents' right to have romantic relationships I think that was not what Phoebe needed at all especially in December with her apparently being bullied at the time. Austin was in a position of authority, at least implicitly at the school by being on the football team and while that isn't something in itself that makes having relationships with other students a crime it does change the role that Phoebe might have seen him in when she was getting to know him and likely disclosing her problems and the fact that she was being bullied to him. It's inappropriate to say the least for a helping relationship like Phoebe likely wanted, needed, and DESERVED to turn into a sexual relationship. I don't know details of what the DA weighed in deciding to charge Austin but maybe something like that played a role.

And there's guilt, in a sense, by association. Austin was friends with others who bullied Phoebe. Charge one or more of them with offenses more closely related to bullying and her death, and it follows that others who committed offenses less closely related may be charged. And yes, Austin may in some senses be guilty of statutory rape, but if he really didn't bully her, if he did try to help her and stand up against others, that will surely mitigate -- reduce in seriousness -- how the court handles his charge and -- I expect, anyway -- his likely cooperation in providing information and maybe at some point testimony against some of the others may lead the DA to recommend minimal punishment.

Again, I'm a psych major whose special interest is in issues related to cases like this, I'm not pre-law, but I think that's all reasonable inferences one can draw from the case.

ciaranrock

I would lke to get a copy of Phoebe Prince documentary to show in my school to combat any bullying that may be going on. can anyone help me get a copy?