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Irregular News for 12.09.05
A 15-year-old student and basketball player at Prairieville Middle School was booked with false imprisonment and six other players were booked as principals to the crime after they locked a 13-year-old student in a locker for 30 to 40 minutes last week, Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Tony Bacala said Wednesday.
"This was a prank that went well overboard … . This kid was brutalized and we had to do something," Bacala said.
The incident occurred Nov. 30 in a locker room at the school after basketball practice, Ascension Parish Assistant School Superintendent Donald Songy said Wednesday. Everyone involved plays basketball at Prairieville Middle School.
The students who put the victim in the locker closed it and put a padlock on it, Bacala said. Bacala also said the victim was taunted, and one of the students sprayed deodorant in the holes of the locker from an aerosol can. Those vent holes in the locker were also stuffed with paper, Bacala said.
Songy would not say how the students involved would be disciplined, but said they will suffer "serious consequences." Those consequences could be anything from suspensions to expulsion.
Songy also said the teacher coach who was supervising the practice, Tab Harris, obviously wasn't paying enough attention to what was going on and he, too, would be disciplined. Songy said Harris could receive anything from a reprimand up to possible termination.
Bacala said that when the victim's mother arrived at school to pick her son up from basketball practice, she became concerned because she couldn't find him. Eventually, the student who pushed the victim in the locker went into the locker room with the boy's mother and unlocked the lock and released the student.
The victim's mother could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Songy said he was not allowed to discuss the punishments of students or staff, citing the confidentiality of minors and personnel issues.
When Songy was asked if the locker incident was being labeled bullying or hazing, Songy would not characterize the incident one way or the other.
"I don't know at this point if you would call this serious bullying or hazing. Either way, we take it very seriously," Songy said.
The school system created a hazing policy after an October 2002 incident in which a St. Amant High School football player was assaulted by fellow players in the locker room.
The mother of the student who was the victim of the St. Amant hazing, Karen Savoy, started a national, nonprofit organization to raise awareness of hazing and bullying in schools. The organization is called Mothers Against School Hazing.
"This is definitely a case of hazing. There is no doubt about it," Savoy said Wednesday afternoon.
Savoy said the Prairieville Middle School victim's mother went to her right after the incident occurred.
"I was sick to my stomach when I first heard about it … . For another mother to have to go through what I went through … . That's tough," Savoy said.
"It's so sad to think that all of our (MASH's) efforts raised awareness of hazing but something like this still happens in Ascension Parish."
The school system's policy states that a school principal "shall recommend expulsion" of any student who commits hazing. Hazing is defined in the policy as any "intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a student, alone or in concert with others, directed against another student which: endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student or substantially or seriously demeans, degrades, or embarrasses a student."
The school system also has a policy regarding bullying that allows a school principal to "determine the level of disciplinary action based upon the facts."
Taft Kleinpeter, an Ascension Parish School Board member who lives in Prairieville and represents the Prairieville Middle School area, said Wednesday that he believes the incident was hazing.
"Yeah. I think it is (hazing). Don't get me wrong. Our hazing policy is very broad. It could be clearer. But this classifies as hazing, and I think the principal (Diane Gautreau) needs to follow the policy," Kleinpeter said.
False imprisonment is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $200 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. False imprisonment is defined by state law as "the intentional confinement or detention of another, without his consent and without proper legal authority."
The 15-year-old student who reportedly locked the boy in the locker was booked Monday and taken to the St. James Parish Youth Detention Facility. Three more students were booked with principal to false imprisonment Tuesday. Wednesday, two more students were booked with principal to false imprisonment. One of the six students booked with principal to the crime was additionally charged with aggravated battery. That student, Bacala said, reportedly sprayed the deodorant in the locker.
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A 15-year-old student and basketball player at Prairieville Middle School was booked with false imprisonment and six other players were booked as principals to the crime after they locked a 13-year-old student in a locker for 30 to 40 minutes last week, Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Tony Bacala said Wednesday.
"This was a prank that went well overboard … . This kid was brutalized and we had to do something," Bacala said.
The incident occurred Nov. 30 in a locker room at the school after basketball practice, Ascension Parish Assistant School Superintendent Donald Songy said Wednesday. Everyone involved plays basketball at Prairieville Middle School.
The students who put the victim in the locker closed it and put a padlock on it, Bacala said. Bacala also said the victim was taunted, and one of the students sprayed deodorant in the holes of the locker from an aerosol can. Those vent holes in the locker were also stuffed with paper, Bacala said.
Songy would not say how the students involved would be disciplined, but said they will suffer "serious consequences." Those consequences could be anything from suspensions to expulsion.
Songy also said the teacher coach who was supervising the practice, Tab Harris, obviously wasn't paying enough attention to what was going on and he, too, would be disciplined. Songy said Harris could receive anything from a reprimand up to possible termination.
Bacala said that when the victim's mother arrived at school to pick her son up from basketball practice, she became concerned because she couldn't find him. Eventually, the student who pushed the victim in the locker went into the locker room with the boy's mother and unlocked the lock and released the student.
The victim's mother could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Songy said he was not allowed to discuss the punishments of students or staff, citing the confidentiality of minors and personnel issues.
When Songy was asked if the locker incident was being labeled bullying or hazing, Songy would not characterize the incident one way or the other.
"I don't know at this point if you would call this serious bullying or hazing. Either way, we take it very seriously," Songy said.
The school system created a hazing policy after an October 2002 incident in which a St. Amant High School football player was assaulted by fellow players in the locker room.
The mother of the student who was the victim of the St. Amant hazing, Karen Savoy, started a national, nonprofit organization to raise awareness of hazing and bullying in schools. The organization is called Mothers Against School Hazing.
"This is definitely a case of hazing. There is no doubt about it," Savoy said Wednesday afternoon.
Savoy said the Prairieville Middle School victim's mother went to her right after the incident occurred.
"I was sick to my stomach when I first heard about it … . For another mother to have to go through what I went through … . That's tough," Savoy said.
"It's so sad to think that all of our (MASH's) efforts raised awareness of hazing but something like this still happens in Ascension Parish."
The school system's policy states that a school principal "shall recommend expulsion" of any student who commits hazing. Hazing is defined in the policy as any "intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a student, alone or in concert with others, directed against another student which: endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student or substantially or seriously demeans, degrades, or embarrasses a student."
The school system also has a policy regarding bullying that allows a school principal to "determine the level of disciplinary action based upon the facts."
Taft Kleinpeter, an Ascension Parish School Board member who lives in Prairieville and represents the Prairieville Middle School area, said Wednesday that he believes the incident was hazing.
"Yeah. I think it is (hazing). Don't get me wrong. Our hazing policy is very broad. It could be clearer. But this classifies as hazing, and I think the principal (Diane Gautreau) needs to follow the policy," Kleinpeter said.
False imprisonment is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $200 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. False imprisonment is defined by state law as "the intentional confinement or detention of another, without his consent and without proper legal authority."
The 15-year-old student who reportedly locked the boy in the locker was booked Monday and taken to the St. James Parish Youth Detention Facility. Three more students were booked with principal to false imprisonment Tuesday. Wednesday, two more students were booked with principal to false imprisonment. One of the six students booked with principal to the crime was additionally charged with aggravated battery. That student, Bacala said, reportedly sprayed the deodorant in the locker.
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