APNewsBreak: 1 of 6 teens charged in US bullying case strikes plea deal with prosecutor
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Apr 26, 2011, 10:07:54 PM4/26/11
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5h__CPuqinjTppOIbYxFVwI24uiwg?docId=6674999
HARTFORD, Conn. — One of six teens charged in the notorious
Massachusetts bullying case of a 15-year-old Irish immigrant who
committed suicide has struck a plea agreement with prosecutors,
according to new court documents.
If accepted by a judge, 17-year-old Sharon Chanon Velazquez's plea
deal would be the first case resolved in connection with South Hadley
High School freshman Phoebe Prince's suicide.
Prosecutors said Tuesday in a written statement that they expect
"significant development in one or more of the cases," though they
would not discuss Velazquez's potential plea deal or the status of
discussions with the other defendants' attorneys.
Prince hanged herself in January 2010 in her family's apartment after
what prosecutors call a relentless campaign of bullying by other
students that included slurs about her Irish heritage, insults on
Facebook and threats to beat her up.
Prince's death was among several teen suicides nationwide attributed
to bullying, and her experiences were cited in Massachusetts and
nationwide as legislatures considered or approved new laws cracking
down on the harassment.
Velazquez and four other teens were charged two months after her death
with offences connected to the alleged bullying, and a sixth teen was
charged with statutory rape for allegedly having sexual contact with
the underage girl. All have pleaded not guilty.
Velazquez and two other teenage girls are charged in Franklin-
Hampshire Juvenile Court with stalking, criminal harassment and
violation of Prince's civil rights. The other three teens were older
when they were charged, and their cases are pending in nearby
Hampshire Superior Court.
Terms of the 17-year-old Velazquez's potential plea deal were not
disclosed in the motion filed Tuesday in juvenile court, where her
attorney and prosecutors are scheduled to present it to a judge for
consideration on May 5.
Messages left Tuesday for her attorney were not immediately returned.
According to prosecutors, Velazquez and two friends, Flannery Mullins
and Ashley Longe, were angry over Prince's brief relationship with
Austin Renaud, Mullins' on-and-off boyfriend.
Renaud and another teen, Sean Mulveyhill, face statutory rape charges
for allegedly having sexual contact with Prince. Mulveyhill and his ex-
girlfriend, Kayla Narey, also face the same civil rights charge levied
against Longe, Velazquez and Mullins.
Longe and Mullins are scheduled to appear in juvenile court a few
hours after Velazquez on May 5.
Narey is scheduled to appear May 4 for a status hearing in Hampshire
Superior Court. Mulveyhill is on the docket one day later, and Renaud
returns to court in July.
Renaud's lawyer, Terrence Dunphy, said Tuesday he has not been in plea
talks with prosecutors.
"My client has been unable to resolve his matters," Dunphy said,
declining to comment on Velazquez's agreement.
A message was left for Prince's family attorney, and her aunt, Eileen
Prince of Springfield, declined to comment when reached Tuesday by The
Associated Press.
Messages left Tuesday for the other teens' attorneys also were not
immediately returned.
Velazquez was described by prosecutors as showing "a pattern of
assaultive conduct" toward Phoebe that included crude insults and
threats of violence, including one for which she served a one-day
school suspension.
Longe is charged with yelling crude comments, such as "Irish whore"
and "stupid slut," at Prince in the school library a few hours before
her suicide. Longe also threw an aluminum can at Prince and yelled
insults again as the freshman walked home that afternoon, authorities
said in court records.
The court records accuse Mullins of threatening to beat up Prince,
cornering her in a school bathroom, repeatedly calling her an "Irish
slut" and posting demeaning comments about her on Facebook.
In addition to the charges they face in public juvenile court
proceedings, prosecutors said Longe, Mullins and Velazquez also face
separate delinquency cases that list the same alleged offences plus
criminal harassment charges. Longe also is charged under delinquency
statutes with assault, according to court records and prosecutors.
Had the teens been charged only under delinquency laws and not as
youthful offenders, their identities would have been confidential.
HARTFORD, Conn. — One of six teens charged in the notorious
Massachusetts bullying case of a 15-year-old Irish immigrant who
committed suicide has struck a plea agreement with prosecutors,
according to new court documents.
If accepted by a judge, 17-year-old Sharon Chanon Velazquez's plea
deal would be the first case resolved in connection with South Hadley
High School freshman Phoebe Prince's suicide.
Prosecutors said Tuesday in a written statement that they expect
"significant development in one or more of the cases," though they
would not discuss Velazquez's potential plea deal or the status of
discussions with the other defendants' attorneys.
Prince hanged herself in January 2010 in her family's apartment after
what prosecutors call a relentless campaign of bullying by other
students that included slurs about her Irish heritage, insults on
Facebook and threats to beat her up.
Prince's death was among several teen suicides nationwide attributed
to bullying, and her experiences were cited in Massachusetts and
nationwide as legislatures considered or approved new laws cracking
down on the harassment.
Velazquez and four other teens were charged two months after her death
with offences connected to the alleged bullying, and a sixth teen was
charged with statutory rape for allegedly having sexual contact with
the underage girl. All have pleaded not guilty.
Velazquez and two other teenage girls are charged in Franklin-
Hampshire Juvenile Court with stalking, criminal harassment and
violation of Prince's civil rights. The other three teens were older
when they were charged, and their cases are pending in nearby
Hampshire Superior Court.
Terms of the 17-year-old Velazquez's potential plea deal were not
disclosed in the motion filed Tuesday in juvenile court, where her
attorney and prosecutors are scheduled to present it to a judge for
consideration on May 5.
Messages left Tuesday for her attorney were not immediately returned.
According to prosecutors, Velazquez and two friends, Flannery Mullins
and Ashley Longe, were angry over Prince's brief relationship with
Austin Renaud, Mullins' on-and-off boyfriend.
Renaud and another teen, Sean Mulveyhill, face statutory rape charges
for allegedly having sexual contact with Prince. Mulveyhill and his ex-
girlfriend, Kayla Narey, also face the same civil rights charge levied
against Longe, Velazquez and Mullins.
Longe and Mullins are scheduled to appear in juvenile court a few
hours after Velazquez on May 5.
Narey is scheduled to appear May 4 for a status hearing in Hampshire
Superior Court. Mulveyhill is on the docket one day later, and Renaud
returns to court in July.
Renaud's lawyer, Terrence Dunphy, said Tuesday he has not been in plea
talks with prosecutors.
"My client has been unable to resolve his matters," Dunphy said,
declining to comment on Velazquez's agreement.
A message was left for Prince's family attorney, and her aunt, Eileen
Prince of Springfield, declined to comment when reached Tuesday by The
Associated Press.
Messages left Tuesday for the other teens' attorneys also were not
immediately returned.
Velazquez was described by prosecutors as showing "a pattern of
assaultive conduct" toward Phoebe that included crude insults and
threats of violence, including one for which she served a one-day
school suspension.
Longe is charged with yelling crude comments, such as "Irish whore"
and "stupid slut," at Prince in the school library a few hours before
her suicide. Longe also threw an aluminum can at Prince and yelled
insults again as the freshman walked home that afternoon, authorities
said in court records.
The court records accuse Mullins of threatening to beat up Prince,
cornering her in a school bathroom, repeatedly calling her an "Irish
slut" and posting demeaning comments about her on Facebook.
In addition to the charges they face in public juvenile court
proceedings, prosecutors said Longe, Mullins and Velazquez also face
separate delinquency cases that list the same alleged offences plus
criminal harassment charges. Longe also is charged under delinquency
statutes with assault, according to court records and prosecutors.
Had the teens been charged only under delinquency laws and not as
youthful offenders, their identities would have been confidential.
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