Missouri yearbook prank leads to student's arrest

[proud2BlibKansan]

A felony??

COLUMBIA, Mo. • A Columbia high school student faces a possible felony charge in criminal court after her arrest for changing a classmate's name in the school yearbook to a sexually suggestive term.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that a 17-year-old Hickman High School student was arrested May 14 after she allegedly changed a student's last name from Mastain to "masturbate" in the yearbook. She could be charged with first-degree property damage, a felony, and harassment.

The school decided against reprinting more than 700 yearbooks and instead placed stickers on the altered page with the student's correct name.

Raigan Mastain told the newspaper she "wasn't devastated" over the incident and was surprised the student was arrested. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday morning.

more . . . http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/missouri-yearbook-prank-leads-to-student-s-arrest/article_f0fe2396-d411-50a5-afe7-75ee9ab29fe2.html#.UaVIaAFY_aM.facebook

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. mean prank but not a felony

[tammywammy]

2. I don't think she's been charged yet

The 17-year-old Hickman High School junior was arrested May 14 after she allegedly changed a student's last name from Mastain to "masturbate" in the 100th edition of the Hickman Cresset yearbook. She could be charged with first-degree property damage, a felony, and harassment.

Assistant Boone County prosecutor Spencer Bartlett said Tuesday that the case remains under review. No charges had been filed against the teenager as of Tuesday afternoon.

The school decided against reprinting more than 700 yearbooks and instead placed stickers on the altered pages with the student's correct surname, said yearbook adviser Kim Acopolis. The school estimated the costs of reprinting 720 yearbooks at $41,000.

http://www.kshb.com/dpp/news/state/missouri/yearbook-prank-leads-to-high-school-students-arrest-in-columbia-mo

Yearbooks are very expensive to print. I was co-editor-in-chief my senior year (graduated '99) and the cost to just print our yearbook was $35/each. Also, and I would assume this is pretty common, the yearbook received no funding from the school. They had to cover the cost with sales, and that included if we wanted to purchase new computers, film, color pages are more expensive than b&w, etc.

A side note, maybe it's because I was on yearbook throughout high school, but changing someone's name just isn't funny at all. We tried so hard to make sure we didn't even accidentally misspell a name.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. I don't think it's funny either But it's not a FELONY offense.

That's just ridiculous.

[Brickbat]

5. Yeah, there's a lot of wiggle room between "tasteless juvenile prank" and "felony arrest."

It seems to be getting a lot smaller lately, though.

[tammywammy]

7. I'm not saying I agree

But it probably became a felony with the amount of damage that occurred. Even printing the stickers may have cost over the threshold from misdemeanor to felony. Isn't that usually around $1000?

I think some community service and restitution to cover the cost of her "prank" is enough punishment.

edited to add: And there's no need to permanently give her a black mark. Restitution and then away it goes. I'm sure she learned her lesson. Plus, I think really the highlight is how well the student who's name was changed is taking it in stride.

[malaise]

9. It only becomes a felony because there are private prisons to fill

It's a stupid stupid prank

[Logical]

4. WTF is wrong with the legal system now days? Lock them up and throw away key. n-t

[Brickbat]

6. "Masturbate" is not a sexually suggestive term.

Awkward much, Post-Dispatch?

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. Charge her with bullying. Make the little piece of shit's parents pay for the yearbooks.

They can get their money back from her however they see fit without breaking the law themselves.

Miserable. Hateful. Piece. Of. Shit.

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. Whoa! Maybe you better sit down for a spell. The anger seems to be overwhelming you.

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. What does a high school yearbook cost these days?

I seem to remember mine costing around $60 in 1979. So let's say they cost $100 today, and I'm thinking that's a conservative estimate. In property damage alone that's $70,000. Where can a person do $70,000 worth of property damage and NOT be charged with a crime of some kind?

Not that I ever would, because I don't deface other peoples' shit, and wouldn't know a Jewish person if they bit me on the nose... If I spray painted "Go Home Jews" on a multiple synagogues and got caught, I'd likely be charged with a hate crime.

This is a hateful person who is going to continue being a hateful person because there won't be a penalty of any kind to pay for subjecting others to her hate. At this moment, she's probably sending text messages to her friends and twittering about how clever she was.

When there are no consequences, hateful behavior will never change.

[Arugula Latte]

43. My son's cost $75 this year.

I thought that was pretty pricey!

[Logical]

27. LOL, you seem to have anger issues. n-t

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

30. What about a person who changes someone's name that they don't even know?

What kind of issues do they have?

[cherokeeprogressive]

33. So you've seen me angry enough times to make that claim?

I hate bullies. To me this is bullying with a decent amount of property damage thrown in for good measure. I was bullied. It lasted until my sophomore year when I had a growth spurt good for about 4 inches and 30 pounds. The worst part was the two kids who bullied me were neighbors, so I was bullied in school and on my neighborhood streets.

My daughter had her face spit in while she was in elementary school. 4 times. When I confronted the parents of the hateful little pieces of shit who did it, on their porches, their parents turned out to be hateful pieces of shit as well. "Silly prank" my ass.

As I said in another post, she's a hateful piece of shit who will raise hateful pieces of shit, thus furthering the circle of life...

I'm not an angry person. I'm just tired of seeing people like this getting away with their acts after suffering no consequences whatsoever. I bet she's having a blast sending clever texts to her friends right about now...

[Logical]

36. You would make a good current day prosecutor. Punishment exceeding the crime. n-t

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. The criminal law seems like an inappropriate tool to respond to this.

But, hey, it's America. That's what we do.

[Major Nikon]

11. First degree property damage in Missouri is a felony

The threshold between misdemeanor and felony is $750.

$41,000 in damages seems to qualify, and that doesn't even include the emotional damage to her victim.

If I were the DA, I would charge her with a felony until she coughed up $41,000 for the reprinting, then plea it down to a few hundred hours of community service. That's pretty typical for these kind of cases.

[Comrade Grumpy]

14. "Pretty typical for these kind of cases."

Does this happen often?

[Major Nikon]

16. Vandals that do thousands of dollars in damages happens pretty often

You can break the $750 threshold pretty easily for something as simple as keying a car. The threshold is lower in many states.

[tammywammy]

15. They didn't reprint the books though

They covered it with a sticker, which is a very common way to correct errors in a yearbook.

I think she should definitely reimburse the school for the cost of the stickers plus a little more and I'd agree with community service.

The really strange thing about all of it, is they were just merely acquaintances. I wonder what motivated her to do that. So strange.

[Major Nikon]

21. Some kids are just mean as hell and hardly need a reason

It's a learned trait.

[FBaggins]

32. Probably doesn't matter

If somone keys your car, the damage is what it would cost to repaint it... not what it would take to run a scratch crayon down the line and just live with it.

Even if that's all you do.

[tammywammy]

35. Ahh, that would make sense. Thank you. n/t

[Comrade Grumpy]

17. Wait! You want this kid to pay $41,000?

And do "a few hundred hours of community service"?

I have a better idea: Print the correct spelling of the student's name on little pieces of paper and make the prankster glue them in all the yearbooks.

--The yearbooks wouldn't have to be reprinted.
--Nobody would have to shell out $41,0000.
--The prankster would learn a lesson.

[tammywammy]

18. As the article points out, they used stickers to correct the name.

She should still reimburse the school for the extra cost incurred.

[Major Nikon]

19. If someone did $41,000 damage to my home I would certainly want them to pay

A half-fast repair doesn't seem like an appropriate remedy. Imagine if it were your name and you knew all anyone had do do was peel back the sticker. People keep yearbooks for a lifetime.

[cherokeeprogressive]

22. And she will keep this memory for a lifetime. She'll have to explain to her children why there's a

label over her name.

I guess she could lie about it...

[tammywammy]

23. It doesn't appear to be quite that traumatic to the girl:

Raigan Mastain said although she wasn't happy about what happened, she also "wasn't devastated."

"I was kind of annoyed. It was stupid, but I wasn't that upset," she said.

Mastain brought the incident to the attention of Acopolis, but her involvement ended there. She said she was surprised Booth was arrested.

-----

"I was disappointed, but I didn't know her well enough to be personally affected," Mastain said.

The two haven't talked since the incident occurred, but Mastain said she hopes Booth is doing OK.

"What she did wasn't right, but I don't think it should affect her for the rest of her life," she said.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/local/hickman-yearbook-change-leads-to-arrest/article_d8a61f98-c5ba-11e2-92c0-10604b9f6eda.html

[Major Nikon]

25. She is a far better person than her antagonist

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. She's still a hateful little piece of shit who needs to be punished in some way.

I think it's bullying. Do you defend bullying?

She's a hateful piece of shit who will raise hateful pieces of shit.

And the circle of life goes on...

[tammywammy]

29. Where have I defended bullying?

Maybe you need to reread my posts in this thread. I think an appropriate punishment is paying for the extra costs incurred by the school and community service.

You should take a page out of Ms. Mastain's book and dial back the venom.

[Major Nikon]

24. A label would be acceptable if it were a typo

If I were the victim's parents, I would sue to have the yearbooks collected and reprinted along with a judge's order to enforce the collection immediately.

[Initech]

12. This zero tolerance bullshit has got to stop!!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

28. C'mon, this is beyond the usual "zero tolerance" nonsense

What she did was pretty fucking beyond bringing a plastic knife to butter her bread or making gun noises in the hallway.

[Initech]

31. It's a harmless prank, not a class a felony.

At best criminal mischief charges should be filed and the people involved should get a slap on the wrist and a few weeks of community service, but wanton destruction of property? Felony charges? 10 years in jail? Welcome to the United Police State Of America. Check your dignity at the door.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

34. Did you read the post above about how much it costs to print yearbooks?

Do I think she should go to jail?....no. But restitution and community service seem to be in order.

As far as it being harmless....well thankfully the victim in this case has a hell of a lot more character and dignity than the little pig prankster. But what if that person was the constant victim of bullying? Another slap in the face comes after the "slap on the wrist"

But hey, fuck the man, whatever, I guess.

[Heywood J]

38. Please, explain how your innate guilt detector went from "arrested" to "guilty".

You must be one hell of a juror.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

44. Last time I checked, this isn't "Juror Underground"

Thanks for your concern, however.

[Heywood J]

45. You're welcome.

You looked like you could use it.

[Ms. Toad]

40. It is not a harmless prank

As someone who was bullied I would have responded publicly the way the student whose name was changed did. But I can also tell you that no matter how I responded publicly to being bullied, I still carry the emotional pain from being bullied through 7th grade - more than 4 decades later.

If I was the prosecutor I would review whether this child had a history of bullying others, and would adjust the charges (and recommended punishment) according to what I found out. At a minimum, restitution to the school for the stickers & time - and for whatever it cost to print a single correct copy of the book for the impacted student. I would also press for a significant chunk of community service in a setting that might encourage understanding of the short and long term impact of bullying. Perhaps a suicide prevention hotline (mostly listening while doing office work - but if the lesson appears to be being learned, perhaps moving into counseling.)

If this is part of a pattern of behavior - likely at least a short jail sentence, plus the above.

[Initech]

41. Believe me I was bullied too.

But I really, truly, seriously, hate the for profit prison system that has an iron grip on this country and refuses to let go. I feel no sympathy for the bullies in this case but nobody's lives should be completely ruined here. I know it was a lot of money but no one deserves 10 years in jail for it.

[Ms. Toad]

42. I was reacting to calling bullying a harmless prank -

not the sentiment that 10 years is too long.

Ten years - at that age - would pretty much guarantee the bully would never successfully reintegrate into society. It is hard enough at any time, but when you lose the 10 years when everyone else is going to college, starting a job, or learning a trade - and you're hanging out with people who have done some really nasty things, in a place where gangs are part of what you do to survive, it reduces hard, to near impossible.

[Heywood J]

37. I'll ask the several armchair QBs how, given only the information in the article,

they plan to "plead her down" to a few hundred hours of community service or threaten her with felonies until she coughs up $41K when they would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this wasn't the work of inadvertent spell-check (on either the correctly-spelled or incorrectly-spelled name) or something equally as mundane, and that this wasn't a case of a school official jumping to conclusions and calling a cop before actually knowing the facts. After all the reports of police being called to arrest unruly five year olds and the like, I'd think we would have a little more patience but I also wouldn't expect an honest answer from people with nothing better to do than ruminate on exactly how they would threaten a child with the prospect of life and career destruction. I expect that from Free Republic, not here.

The inevitable rebuttal of "my copy of Word doesn't suggest that when I typed in the exact thing in the article" isn't proof.

[Gormy Cuss]

39. A sticker on the page? That's also ridiculous. Reprint the damn things and charge the student.

Making this a criminal case is probably too much -- have Booth pay for the costs and withhold her diploma until it's paid.
I read the original link. Mastain sounds like a mature young woman. Good for her.

[Orrex]

46. She must be executed in the public square

Anything less will be a gross miscarriage of justice.