Not so 'hilarious': Dumping ice water on a 90-year-old

[a kennedy]

A Cloquet, Minn., teenager told police that he found it so funny when he dumped a pitcher of ice water on a 90-year-old nursing home resident in June that he returned and did it twice more, in December and again last month.

"Me and were like, this is gonna be hilarious, 'cause this lady was talking to herself and she was yelling and stuff so we threw it on her," the 16-year-old boy told police, describing the first incident.

"She started screaming and freaking out so we thought this was hilariously funny, and we were all talking about it in school and everyone was laughing about it," he said, according to the criminal complaint.

On Friday, the boy was charged with felony stalking in Carlton County District Court. His name was not made public because he is a juvenile.

However, County Attorney Thomas Pertler said Monday that he will ask a judge next week to certify the boy as an adult and that he may charge the boy's three teenage friends with aiding and abetting. The friends are from Proctor, about 16 miles away, and all four attend high school there.

http://www.startribune.com/467/story/1027536.html

This just makes me sick.....this is just wrong.

[npincus]

1. let me guess: he grows up to be a Repblican president

[Kagemusha]

2. I'm sorry, I don't see where the boy should be certified as an adult.

What he did was not cool and should be punished but... I mean, it sounds like one of the reasons for such a certification is so that his name may be publicly exposed so that the prosecutor can parade him in the streets so to speak.

[RubyDuby in GA]

5. How does this "boy" know whether or not the woman has some kind of medical

issues that could be seriously triggered by throwing freezing cold ice water on her. I mean for christsakes, she's 90 years old. Also, if you are lucky enough to reach that age, you deserve to not have some little bastard throw water on you. Ever hear of showing respect for your elders? And finally, it sounds like she might have some mental health issues, so now he's picking on a 90 year old woman with mental health issues (talking to herself, etc).

This fucker knows what he was doing. He's not some starry-eyed child who didn't know right from wrong. The prick needs to be punished to the fullest extent of the law - as an adult.

[jwirr]

79. In Cloquet the nursing homes are intensive care units so most people

living there are in critical condition. We have assisted living housing that takes care of most "healthy" elderly. There is no excuse for what these boys did.

As to charging them as adults I think that may be so that they can be charged with elder abuse which is against the law in this state. One thing they should check on first is if they have a brain. They sound very much like our pResident in the WH.

[hlthe2b]

Yes... sentence them all as juveniles to thousands of hours

emptying bedpans at a nursing home or other facilty...Let him wear a sign that says "he enjoys abusing old people" and allow him to see how much "reinforcement for his antics" that hel'll get from patient families (my kneejerk response)

[Ilsa]

8. A hundred icy showers for this nasty youth. nt

[AlCzervik]

7. probably because he is 16 and not 12.

[jwirr]

80. 16 years old is old enough to know right from wrong. I had my first

child at 16. She was severely disabled from birth and I was able to act as an adult.

[atreides1]

9. I disagree

The main reason for certification is so that he can be tried as an adult, and serve adult time in an adult facility, and it will remain a part of his permanent record.

[pitohui]

84. good

the 16 year old who thinks this is funny and cool and to be shared w. friends should never be out in society

[MADem]

11. I don't have a problem with it.

We certify fourteen year old murderers all the time, kids who made ONE serious mistake. This guy did it once and enjoyed it so much he wanted to do it again and again.

At his age I knew right from wrong. I say take the little shit to task.

[Kagemusha]

14. Yes, it's done for murderers all the time.

Murderers.

But I guess I'm the only one who sees a problem with that being routinely applied to assault cases.

Stiff punishment is deserved either way, just to reiterate, since there's so many responses there's no way I can keep up with them all so I'll say this and leave it at that...

[MADem]

19. He did it not once, THREE times.

I so strongly disagree with your 'hearts and flowers' attitude towards this punk. He performed a brutal act against a helpless aged individual once, and enjoyed it so much he did it two more times. He should get the full measure of adult justice.

The woman could easily have died from shock at that age. He's lucky she didn't.

I withhold my sympathy for those who make MISTAKES. Events where the consequences are not known or realized at the time of the commission of the crime. This was deliberately, specifically, with knowledge aforethought, planned--not once, but three times.

[Kagemusha]

21. Just to clear this up...

I do not hold the slightest bit of sympathy for this teenager. None. At all. It's more than a little insulting to be told I have a 'hearts and flowers' attitude about this. That's getting personal without any factual basis.

But there are a lot of actions in this world that could possibly kill someone and didn't. They are not all punished as if a person had died. Attempted murder is not charged as actual murder. If society is going to certify every teenager who commits a crime as an adult, why shouldn't society certify every teenager, period, as an adult, and work from there? What's the point of having a juvenile justice system for people who society doesn't seem to recognize as juveniles? Either follow what the law prescribes or change the law. Not bend it for every case where someone WASN'T killed.

It has nothing to do with sympathy. Nothing whatsoever. I'm sorry you felt I was expressing sympathy...

[MADem]

39. You think someone who throws ice cold water on a nonegenarian not once, but three times,

at the age of 16 is somehow lacking sufficient adult capacity to know the potential consequences of their actions.

This isn't "every teenager." We aren't talking shoplifting or playing hookey or even stealing a car. We aren't even talking about a kid who doesn't know his own strength and hits someone and puts them in a coma or even kills them in the heat of a moment.

This is one evil puppy, who did a bad thing once, and then did it again and again. Because he got a kick out of it. He knowingly, deliberately, with enthusiasm, caused that woman pain, fear, and distress. Not once, but three times.

There's no need to change the law with regard to juveniles. The law already provides for a measure of prosecutorial discretion owing to circumstances which allow teens to be tried as adults. It's in there already, and that is why this kid is being charged in the way he is. There's a discretionary aspect that is being employed in this case, and rightly so. There isn't a "magic age" where people hit adulthood, but there are cases where people don't know wrong from right, and there are cases where people clearly do. This kid clearly did, and he got a sick kick out of causing pain, fear and distress. He needs to step up and pay for his crime. You just don't fuck with kids or the elderly. It's wrong. Jesus, whether you care for him or not, had that shit right.

[Sapphire Blue]

48. Please tell me, Kagemusha, how you feel about this:

Please note the ages of the accused/convicted vs the ages of the victims:

Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA
February 2007

Violent Crimes against the Homeless on the Rise

Contact: Michael Stoops [phone], ext. 19; [e-mail]

Please click here to read the hate crimes report.

Please click here to read the CNN story: "Teen 'sport killings' of homeless on the rise"


Washington, DC – Reported incidents of attacks against homeless men and women have reached their highest level in years, according to a study by the National Coalition for the Homeless. NCH’s report, Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2006, details the 142 violent crimes, against homeless individuals in the past year, the highest number of incidents since NCH’s annual study began in 1999. Attacks have increased 65% from last year, and over 170% since five years ago. This year’s attacks, which include beatings, stabbings, burnings, and rape resulted in 20 fatalities

Even more disturbing than the violence of these attacks are the identities of the attackers and their motives. In a significant number of cases, the crimes were committed by teenagers and young adults, for no apparent reason other than boredom. This March in Orlando, FL, August Felix, age 54, was beaten to death by five teenagers. The youths, all between the ages of 13 and 16, attacked Felix and others “for sport,” according to local police. Later that same month, 21-year-old Braymond Harris of Detroit was shot and killed by a 15-year-old boy. In the words of one Detroit police officer, the boy and his friends “just wanted to beat up a bum.”

“It is NCH’s position that many of these acts should be considered hate crimes” said Michael Stoops, Executive Director of NCH. “Crimes against homeless people are motivated by the same intolerance as hate crimes against people of a certain religious, racial, or ethnic background.”

Currently, federal law does not list housing status as potential motivation for a hate crime, though NCH and others are gaining ground in their battle to add homelessness to new hate crimes legislation. Such bills have been introduced into five state legislatures: California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Texas.

For the complete report, as well as those of past years, click here

[Kagemusha]

55. I'm sorry, how I feel isn't relevant to this issue at all.

It just is not, and I don't want to allow myself to distract from the subject at hand.

It is my opinion that crime should be punished appropriately. Opinions of what is appropriate may vary, but the fact is, I don't even personally know what penalty a juvenile would face for a felony stalking conviction. I do know that the penalty will not include execution. Therefore, what this 16 year old will become once he's gone through the system is a consideration for punishment.

Just the same, I'll repeat this because people aren't listening: the victim of the crime that is the subject of this thread, did not die. I cannot support the treating of this crime, which did not result in a murder, as if it was murder, which is what's being advocated here (citing how 14 year olds are certified to be adults "all the time"). There is nothing logical about treating a dangerous assault as if it was a murder. It's not. And treating every violent assault as if the victim was killed, whether or not that was in fact the case, is a recipe for making the world (or at least, the justice system) go mad.

I find that to be the appropriate response to your quoting deaths as a result of attacks on the homeless.

[Sapphire Blue]

58. 122 of the attacks were non-lethal, just as the attack against the 92-yr-old nursing home patient.

And the majority of the attacks were commited by 16 to 19-yr-olds. You don't see the connection???

[Kagemusha]

62. What are you asking me for, to demand a RICO prosecution?

Vast teenage-wing conspiracy to assault the helpless?

I am against prosecuting assault as if it is murder, whether it be for adults or juveniles. Justice must be judged on an individual case, or an individual set of related cases. I don't see how anything else would be constitutional or would constitute justice.

But it sure as hell makes better PR for the prosecutor of the case. I'm sorry if that makes me a bit leery. But it does.

[Sapphire Blue]

64. Who is suggesting that the assault should be prosecuted as if it is murder?

The offender should be prosecuted as an adult for the crime that he committed.

[Kagemusha]

65. That was re: we certify murdering 14 year olds as adults all the time.

No that wasn't your words personally but..

Look, if the penalty for felony stalking is too weak for a juvenile, that I can understand. That allegation has not been made here. What has been alleged is that the juvenile system is too quiet and out of the media's glare to be justice served. I don't follow that reasoning. I also don't like the wording about certifying the juvenile as an adult - period - rather than the usual terminology, prosecuted as an adult. I don't understand that wording.

I see why people find my questioning of it problematic but, ... but...

The crime this offender committed has literally nothing to do with the statistics you threw at me so I'm just lost, sorry. I hope justice is served. Have a nice day.

[Sapphire Blue]

67. It has everything to do w/the statistics of 16 to 19-yr-olds assaulting older people for kicks.

For kicks.

[bobbolink]

70. Yanno, Sapphire Blue, I think a whole lot of people can't seem to think beyond themselves....

It's all "us" vs. "them" rather than thinking of us all as belonging to the same "tribe".

I think a whole lot of people who just can't work themselves into a state of compassion are going to have to find *THEMSELVES* victims, and experience that fear for themselves, before they are able to walk in the shoes of another.

I've about given up on the human race, and that includes so-called "liberals".

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[pitohui]

87. oh "the good luck" theory of morality

he didn't actually kill the woman he tortured because she had a strong heart or what have you -- because he had good luck, he ain't evil

gotcha

seriously, how can you defend that?

i don't care that the kid caught lucky, he is a torturer who returned and did it again...and then again

he is already the worst of the worst, there is no need to let him out in society until he does succeed in torturing and killing a weak, old person -- or perhaps many of them -- stop this now

[Kagemusha]

89. So you want him taken down by lethal injection?

Because that's the only way to guarantee what you ask.

I've had a really bad day, granted, but to call a fundamental principle of justice - punishment fitting the crime - a matter of "morality" really makes my hair stand up.

[WorldResident]

40. Your position is reasonable

But if this kid was just a few months older, he would be tried as an adult for sure.

[cally]

51. I agree with you....he should not be tried as an adult

I don't believe in trying youths as adults when we find their actions so repugnant that youth sentencing laws seem too lenient. We, as a society, have to determine at what age humans act as adults and then maintain that standard regardless of the crime.

However, I have a 16 year old and there is no way she or her friends would do something like this. How was this kid raised that he wasn't exposed to older people, sick people? Anyone with any life experience knows that some people are more fragile than others. When you are recovering from sickness, surgery, or are elderly than you cannot tolerate what a healthy young adult can. Basic courtesies like giving up your seat on the bus to the elderly and infirmed also teach a recognition that they need special consideration. We need to go back to basic courtesies.

[bobbolink]

69. a "healthy" adult doesn't need to have ice wqter dumped on them, either!!

We MUST recognize just how sick this whole society is, and how blase' we've become to the abuse that is now common.

No wonder people in other countries look at us in shock!

[Midlodemocrat]

18. If it were just one time, maybe, but he returned and did it again

and bragged about it at school.

The kid is a budding sociopath and needs to be stopped. I have a 14yo son who would NEVER do something like that and he spent a great deal of time in nursing homes when my dad was a patient.

[ieoeja]

49. And all the other kids laughed because ...

... it was juvenile. See the irony?

[WorldResident]

38. The biggest consequence of this will be the boy will get to go to the adult prison

And he will get an adult felony on his record.

At 16, I don't know if I'm that opposed to this actually.

[ieoeja]

50. And he gets an adult education in an adult prison. n/t

[jwirr]

86. He will probably spend his sentence in Carlton County Jail a small

prison that has a pretty good record. I am speaking as a mother of a young woman who did a little too much shoplifting as a teenager.

[AngryOldDem]

42. Disagree

This kid knew full well what he was doing; moreso if he works in a nursing home and is aware of the fragile health that many of the residents are in. He did this for shits and grins and therefore should be treated as an adult. Malice was behind this, even if the first incident was an "accident."

And as for his name being public record -- that's what happens when you do shit like this. No sympathy here.

[jwirr]

88. He made his own name public when he bragged to his fellow

students.

[LoZoccolo]

54. I don't know why they can certify a kid as an adult for crimes, but not for voting.

That to me is a glaring injustice.

[Hippo_Tron]

74. You read my mind

If you don't give 16 year olds equal rights under the law, then how can you hold them equally responsible under the law?

[Hippo_Tron]

73. IMO I have a problem with trying juveniles as adults because they don't have adult rights

They can't sign contracts, make their own medical decisions, or vote. So why should they be held to the same responsibility as adults under the law?

The only reason that I would support having juveniles do adult time is if they are too dangerous to society for juvenile time.

[donco6]

94. I believe it was appropriate.

He's old enough to distinguish right from wrong, and to understand the consequences of such actions. It aligns with many cases I've seen.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. If it was my mother that punk wouldn't be able to talk right now.

unless he knew how to mumble thru thick bandages.

[Bunny]

43. Same here - I have five brothers who would kick his punk-ass up

and down the street. And then they'd get mean.

[sutz12]

4. Hmmmmm, watched one too many episodes of Jackass, maybe. nt

[taterguy]

13. Has any episode of Jackass physically harmed someone?

Except for the cast members of course

[Midlodemocrat]

17. All the time. Some kid lit fireworks out of his butt because of that show.

and there are other examples, which I can't recall right now.

[Dr.Phool]

22. And he's probably a poster on free republic right now.

Or a young republican.

[taterguy]

23. Or maybe he did it because he was an idiot

My original point was that Jackass portrays people doing stupid dangerous things but only amongst consenting adults. They don't terrorize non-cast members so I fail to see how that show would inspire someone to pour ice water on an old woman

[Midlodemocrat]

45. LOL. Good point.

But I seem to recall some kids imitating the stuff they've seen on that show and getting injured.

I myself haven't seen it, but I really wouldn't want my son watching it. He's just immature enough to try something from that show.

[Ilsa]

6. What a self-centered brute, to be delighting in the pain of another person like that.

I bet his parents are no help at all in dealing with him. Were they even mentioned in the article?

[joeunderdog]

71. I don't (necessarily) think he was laughing at percieved pain.

Although, I suppose it's definitely possible. Seems like he enjoyed that he got her riled up. Stupid jerk.

My question is, is this the mind of a "criminal?" I personally think the kid's gonna benefit from Youth Services and deteriorate in Men's prison.

[dflprincess]

78. Even if tried as an adult a first offense

5th degree felony conviction will probably result in probation, possibly a fine and maybe counseling - or so my friend in the Hennepin County attorney's office tells me. (For those not in Minnesota, Hennepin County includes Minneapolis and a lot of the suburbs, it is not the area where this kid will be tried.)

I don't have a problem with him having a record, a 16 year old should know you don't treat another person this way. This kid sounds like a bully and if he isn't stopped now will go on to worse acts.

[babylonsister]

10. Can you remember back to when you were 16? I would NEVER think

a stunt like this was ever even remotely funny at 16; nor at 9, or 6, or... Who raised this oaf?

[NashVegas]

16. Nor Would Any Sane Person

Over the age of 2.

[Scout]

20. same here ... even as a teenager i didn't think this kind of stuff was acceptable. n/t

[LibDemAlways]

12. My 93 year old uncle was buried over the weekend. He

enjoyed remarkably good health until he caught a cold at a Christmas gathering courtesy of some relatives who showed up sick. The cold turned into pneumonia and the complications killed him. No one intended to harm my uncle, but he's dead just the same.

Deliberately creating the conditions that could lead to an elderly person's demise -in this case tossing the ice water - isn't funny. It's criminal. I'm glad it's being dealt with seriously.

[Kajsa]

24. I'm so sorry to hear about your uncle.

Many people don't realize how vulnerable the elderly
are to catching a cold/flu.

My mom who's 86 loves when we come to visit her.
But she doesn't want anyone to come if they are sick
or not feeling well.
I won't expose her to that, the risk is too great.

Again, my condolences on your uncle's passing.


Re; the sadist little moron who endangered this woman,
punish him to the fullest extent of the law!!

[LibDemAlways]

28. Thank for the kind words. He was a

gentle soul. Never had a harsh word for anybody.

I hate being anywhere where there's a sick person who should be at home. And all too often we find ourselves surrounded by some thoughtless individual's germs.

My parents are elderly too - both 84. I take them to church each Sunday and lately have noticed a lot of coughing around us. You'd think people would know better, but they don't!

[all.of.me]

75. i am sorry about your uncle.

my mom died just a year ago at 92, almost 93, so this story is very disturbing to me. where are this kid's parents?!

[LibDemAlways]

90. Thank you. I appreciate your expression of sympathy.

I think part of the problem here is that kids today have much less contact with elderly people than at any previous time. Where at one time generations lived together out of economic necessity, today it's common for seniors to live in retirement communities or nursing homes away from the rest of the family. They are all too often ridiculed and marginalized in the popular culture as well. I'd be willing to bet that kid has very little, if any, contact with his own grandparents to be able to treat an elderly person so cruelly.

[NashVegas]

Future Psychopaths Of America

Oh wait, I take back the 'future' part.

These kids have some chips loose; this is the same mentality of someone who would, oh, I don't know ... maybe make frogs explode via firecrackers?

[lpbk2713]

15. Thus another fad is born.

This twerp and his pals might have grown tired of beating up winos and wanted to try something else.

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. How come the nursing home kept letting him back in?

[mtnester]

53. That is ONE of the 64 thousand dollar questions in my mind

the rest of it I simply cannot wrap my mind around at all. Even at my utmost idiot assholery of my teenage years I would NEVER have considered this. We simply took our teenage frustrations out on mailboxes....not the elderly.

[uppityperson]

68. There are not guards at most doors in nursing homes

Sounds like he had help from friends also, maybe doing lookout? It's easy to get into many nursing homes, even if they are looking out for you.

[High Plains]

26. Throwing cold water on somebody is "felony stalking"?

While I have no sympathy for the kid, this is a ridiculous overreaction. Try him as an adult felon? C'mon. And I see the DU punisher posse is out in full force. The United States is insanely punitive. Why do you think we have one-quarter of all the world's prisoners?

[Kagemusha]

27. Actually going back and doing it 3 times, separated by over a month each time

I can totally see that falling under felony stalking. ...The adult thing, I have expressed my views further above in the thread and got tarred for a 'hearts and flowers' attitude. (ugh) But inflicting continual fear on a senior citizen like this, I do not see the actual charge itself as a reach.

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

29. Maybe we have one-quarter of all the world's prisoners . . .

. . . because we have a society comprised of fucking lunatics like this little punk, who should beaten within an inch of his sorry life. Cruelty to weakness should never, ever be tolerated. That you don't seem to understand that is astounding.

[Hippo_Tron]

76. No, we have one-quarter of the world's prisoners...

Because we lock people up for 10 years or more for non-violent drug crimes. This kid is the exception not the rule.

[Betty]

30. so what should his penalty be?

a misdemeanor? Probation, and telling him not to ever do that again? It appears that he enjoyed it so much that he came back for more. He sounds like a sadist to me.

I think the reason we have so many people in prison is not because we overreact in cases like this, but because we have an insane "war on drugs " policy that locks up thousands of non violent people who aren't hurting anyone but themselves. If we're going to lock those people up then it seems only fair to deal harshly with the ones who actually assault other people.

[Poiuyt]

31. I'm surprised that he wasn't charged with assault and battery

Ice water thrown on a person that old could be a huge shock to her system. Frankly, I'm surprised she's still alive.

[demrabble]

33. Intentional. Repeated. Unrepentant.

So it is "insanely punitive" to want to punish a kid who -- three times -- goes into a nursing home and deliberately abuses the weakest among us?

Sorry, but I think it is quite proper for our government to do all it can to protect the very weak against bullies and thugs.

Like this kid.

[WorldResident]

41. Drug violations, not because of felony stalking and/or assault

n/t

[MilesColtrane]

60. Maybe because he sought out the same individual to assault 3 times?

Human beings without empathy are a danger to society.

Maybe this story is related?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SELF_CENTERED_STUDENTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[liberal renegade]

92. He's a fucking little puke

that deserves a public caning and then thrown in ice water to soothe his sore ass! Most prisoners are drug offenders not abusers of great grandmas......

[donco6]

95. Yes, actually, it is.

The woman was put in mortal danger, physically assaulted, and it happened several times over several months. That's classic felony stalking.

[demrabble]

32. Where Were The Kids' Parents?

This kid is in SERIOUS need of greater parental involvement in his life.

And the other kids in the high school -- the ones who were talking about it and laughing about it -- the school needs to let it be known that (1) this type of behavior is NOT ok, and (2) that it is OK to report kids who do things like this.

[Kajsa]

35. If I had heard this discussion at school

( I'm a substitute teacher-HS)

I would have reported it to the administration in
a heartbeat. And yes, I would have taken down the
names of everyone involved.

[demrabble]

37. Of Course You Would.

Of course you would have reported it at once.

Any decent person would have.

It sort of makes you wonder about all the kids that heard about it, and instead of reporting it to the administration, just laughed about it.

[Caoimhe]

34. This really does sound like a young George W. Bush

or Jeffrey Dahmer. Kids who abuse people or animals that can't fight back grow up to be psychopaths. I say throw the book at him and his "buddies" and make his parents pay for the care of that little old lady for the rest of her days.

[Beausoir]

36. This infuriates me on so many levels.

My mother was in a nursing home. If this had happened to her, I'd hunt that little bastard down.

What kind of sick parenting produced this piece of shit?

[liberal renegade]

93. you and me both..

[WI_DEM]

44. 16 years old and doesn't know any better? What a total moran

[Bullwinkle925]

46. Felony stalking? What about ASSAULT??

Sick society we're in, eh?

[jdadd]

47. My mother is 92 years old....

and in relatively good health. If somebody did this to her, I'd be the one being prosecuted...For beating up this punk.

[Beausoir]

52. Me too.

I'd hunt that little bastard down.

[KansDem]

56. What the ****? Where was the police in all this?

For 10 days after the third incident, Breuer drove through school parking lots looking for the license plate, finally finding it at the school in Proctor.

They had a plate ID but still had to go hunting for the car? What about the police? Wasn't this reported to them? Why wasn't the state DMV contacted to i.d. the car's owner?

:shrug:

[Beaverhausen]

63. I know. And the article says that staff at the nursing home witnessed the earlier incidents

and what did they do about it? Obviously nothing.

This story is strange on many levels.

[Cabcere]

57. What a little twit.

My little brother just turned 16 a few weeks ago, and even though he can be really immature sometimes (in my opinion, anyway - LOL), he would never even think of doing something this idiotic and mean-spirited. That's just sad.

[Strawman]

59. That story just makes me feel sick in my soul

Is there something cultural that cultivates this kind of behavior or is this kid just a bad seed? I probably shouldn't pretend to know one way or another.

I don't know why my reaction to this story is to try to get inside the heads of these kids and understand what would motivate anyone to do that. But to me, that's gotta be what hell would be like: to be like that. To be so weak that the only way you feel some sense of power is by being cruel to a helpless 90 year old. To carry around that kind of incivility in your imagination and then act it out. It's just ugly and it makes me sick.

[kestrel91316]

61. The kid is just plain sadistic. Charge him as an adult so

this will stay on his public record forever. Otherwise, we could see HIM as President some day.

We already know how poorly putting that sort into the WH works out.

[Jacobin]

66. He's a sociopath

He needs to be locked up.

[MiniMe]

72. George Allen (Macaca's father) got an ice water bath from his team as part of a celebration

And ended up dying from pneumonia. The pneumonia was a direct result of the ice water bath in winter. It was not malicious at all, the players just wanted to celebrate. I'm just saying that there can be serious consequences from throwing ice water on the elderly.

[all.of.me]

77. where are his parents?!?!

absent, obviously.

this is sick sick sick. what's with the trend of our youth beating up on the elderly and homeless?! it's horrifying.

[frogcycle]

81. try the little shit as an adult so

he can given hard time in an adult prison and see how he likes being someone named Bubba's bitch.

ok, that was a little over the top, but no way this is something that should be kept in "juvey."

he's a sadistic sociopath and should never see the light of day except through bars.

[aikoaiko]

82. some teens need good old fashioned beatings to knock snome sense into them

[frogcycle]

83. or just knock the living shit OUT of them

[Hunky Dunky]

85. Soak the little bastard's balls in ice water for 5 days

That will cure him.

[Horse with no Name]

91. Our society is sick

With television shows like American Idol that pick on the least among us, to our President who tortures people.
The pictures of Abu Ghraib...it is enough to say that if our society was diagnosed, it would be a terminal illness.
There is violence everywhere around us. But the question is should we sacrifice this kid for the sins of his fathers?
First response would be to let the little bastard fry.
Second and more reasoned response is no. Let's make an example of him. Let's TEACH him to be a functional and healthy human instead of the dysfunctional child that he is.
Make him apologize to the woman and her family. Make him apologize to the entire Nursing Home.
Make him stand in front of all of his classmates and tell them how he thought it was funny to torture an innocent human being. If life were tit for tat, let him stand and have his classmates throw ice water on him. Too bad it's not.
Put him on strict probation until he is 18 and some SERIOUS community service. Give him a large fine. Make him give BACK to society.
But don't ruin his life over this.