School Bullying Council

Story Published:
May 10, 2011 at 10:54 AM PDT

Story Updated:
May 10, 2011 at 5:29 PM PDT

SEATTLE — A 12-year-old girl who prosecutors say sought revenge by bullying a former friend with her own Facebook account pleaded not guilty on Monday.

The girl has been charged in juvenile court with first-degree computer trespass and cyberstalking.

The girl, along with an 11-year-old girl also charged in the case, were classmates at Issaquah Middle School with the 12-year-old victim.

The three were friends but had a falling out that prosecutors say spilled onto Facebook.

The two girls who have been charged allegedly logged into the victim’s Facebook account and edited pictures to depict a knife pointing at her head, drew devils horns and added word bubbles reading “I’m a slut.”

Using the victim’s account, the girls posted comments on other profiles saying “Have sex with me,” and soliciting men for oral sex.

“I was hurt and sad and very angry,” Leslie Cote said in an interview last month.

KOMO News normally does not identify crime victims, but Leslie and her family chose to discuss the incident that she says left her crying and unable to sleep for weeks.

“Some people looked at me differently, and then judged me differently now because of what happened,” she said.

Leslie said the former friends had access to her Facebook account because she had accidentally saved the password in the web browser on one of their computers.

When police confronted the two girls, both allegedly admitted they accessed Leslie’s Facebook account without permission because they were mad at her.

“This case reveals the dark side of social media sites used by young people,” King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a news release. “Many kids think that on a social media site that their actions will be anonymous and that they are free to use it as weapon to bully, harass, and intimidate another person.”

The 11-year-old girl who allegedly took part in the scheme has not been arraigned. A hearing has been scheduled for later this month for a judge to determine whether the girl understands that her actions were wrong.

According to the King County Prosecutor’s Office, state law presumes that children age 8 to 11 are not capable of committing crimes.

The judge also ordered the 12-year-old not to have contact with the victim, either in person or online.

If convicted as charged, the girls could serve up to 30 days in juvenile detention.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/121577664.html

Story Published:
Apr 26, 2011 at 10:38 PM PDT

Story Updated:
Apr 26, 2011 at 10:42 PM PDT

Leslie Cote says the relentless cyberbullying by two former friends turned her life upside down.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. – A 12-year-old girl who was the victim of relentless cyberbullying on her Facebook page is speaking out about how the actions of two former friends turned her life upside down.

Investigators say the former friends, two sixth-grade girls from Issaquah, now face criminal charges after cyberbullying a fellow classmate through Facebook.

The three girls in the case were all friends at one time at Issaquah Middle School.

But police say an argument that began between them at school ended up splattered all over Facebook – and landed two of the girls in court.

The victim, Leslie Cote, says, “I was hurt and sad and very angry.”

Like any other 12-year-old girl, Leslie considers herself normal. She likes cheerleading, runs track and enjoys painting.

But the colors that surround her world turned dark when she found vulgar images displayed across her Facebook page last month.

“I just couldn’t control it and then I didn’t get any sleep,” Leslie says. “I kept crying the whole time, and it’s just all bunched up.”

Police says Leslie became the victim of cyberbullying after she accidentally saved her password on a friend’s computer. And after a fight, the 11- and 12-year-old former friends took over her account, detectives say.

“Technically this was a crime from the get-go, and as a result, a child’s feeling is hurt,” says Cmdr. Scott Behrbaum.

Leslie says, “Some people looked at me differently, and then judged me differently now because of what happened.”

Investigators say the two girls posted raunchy images on Leslie’s Facebook page, and also sent messages to other users talking about private parts and inviting them to have sex.

The girls allegedly edited pictures of the victim to depict a knife pointing to her head, drew devil’s horns and added word bubbles reading “I’m a slut.”

When Leslie told her mother and her mother’s fiance, they were floored.

“Extreme anger and honestly disbelief,” says the mom’s fiance, Jon Knight. “Parents do need to be aware of what’s going on, especially with the Internet.”

Cmdr. Behrbaum says, “Bullying is still bullying whether it’s face to face or using a computer, a telephone, text messages – it’s still bullying.”

Meanwhile, Leslie’s family has started a new community Facebook page for her called, “For Leslie.” It’s all part of an effort to raise awareness and put an end to cyberbullying.

If convicted as charged, the 12-year old girl could get up to 30 days in juvenile detention.

As for the 11-year-old girl, a court will determine if she understands that her actions were wrong before making a decision.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/120757549.html

Legal maneuvering continued Wednesday afternoon in York-Poquoson Circuit Court in the civil lawsuit brought by a York County mother who alleges that negligence by school officials contributed to her son’s suicide.

The defendants’ lawyer continued his argument that sovereign immunity clears the school officials of liability for simple negligence in the case, and substitute Judge Randolph T. West ruled on access to documents that he had reviewed since the last court date on Jan. 5.

West has given every indication that the case will end up before a jury, and continued to do so Wednesday. No trial date has been set, but West indicated the court will have a permanent judge in place by the time it gets underway.

Alise Williams is suing four current and former York County School Division officials for $10 million for wrongful death. Her son, Christian Taylor, a 16-year-old freshman at Grafton High School, took his life May 31, 2010, and Williams has accused school officials of failing to protect him from bullying at school.

Named in the lawsuit are 2009-10 Grafton High staffers: Principal Paul Hopkins, assistant principals Craig Reed and Karen Fahringer, and counselor Joseph Erfe.

The four defendants were present at the Jan. 5 hearing, but were not called to testify. Their lawyer, David Corrigan, said he was called in advance of Wednesday’s hearing and told they weren’t needed.

“This case is high-profile and you’d have a hard time finding jurors who haven’t read or heard anything about it,” West said. “The more we open up here, the more difficult it will be to find them. After reading the brief, I didn’t think I’d need witnesses to make a decision this afternoon.”

West said the case will go forward with the pleadings as they are, though the lawyers briefly debated sovereign immunity.

West ruled on the availability of documents that were subpoenaed from the York County School Board and York-Poquoson Social Services. He said some of them will be made available to lawyers from both sides, but can only be viewed at the courthouse for note-taking purposes with no photocopies being made.

He further restricted access by warning the lawyers that no one else should see their notes, and denied a request by Williams’ lawyers that an expert witness be allowed to see the documents.

“These are juveniles and I’m trying to protect their names,” West said.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/york-county/dp-nws-bullying-hearing-0217-20110216,0,7979247.story