http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/slap001221.html

Slap Unhappy

Boy, 14, Could Face Felony Charges in Butt Spank

ESPANOLA, N.M., Dec. 21 - A 14-year-old boy could be charged with a felony for slapping a girl's buttocks at their high school, officials said.

The incident occurred last week at the Espanola Middle School in northern New Mexico and was reported to local police by Assistant Principal Ruben Lucero.

“We have a strict sexual harassment policy,” Lucero said Wednesday. “Anytime a person's body is violated, we consider that major.”

The boy, who lives with his grandmother, admitted slapping the girl's buttocks and must now report to a juvenile probation officer for a preliminary inquiry.

Sex Crime or Battery?

Police, assisted by forensic psychologists, are investigating whether the incident should be categorized as criminal sexual contact or battery, Espanola Police Chief Wayne Salazar said.

“The suspect is alleging that this was just a battery, that this was not a sexual issue,” he said. “But why the buttocks? Why not the arm, why not someplace else? It's the target area that concerns us.”

If convicted of criminal sexual contact, a felony, the boy could face up to two years at a juvenile detention facility.

“The way I see it, they were just messing around,” his grandmother said.

Victim’s Mom: No Charges

Lucero said that for minor infractions, such as name calling, he suspends students from classes, but for a major infraction, including physical contact, the student must meet with a juvenile parole board to determine the severity of the incident.

“What he did wasn't right, but I wouldn't have pressed charges, given that it was just a slap on the butt,” said the 13-year-old victim's mother.

Salazar said the forensic psychologists would complete their assessment within the next two weeks, after which police would know how to proceed.

Students at the school are on Christmas break until Jan. 3.

-- (in@the.news), December 21, 2000

Answers

Does this take the idea of zero tolerance too far?

-- (in@the.news), December 21, 2000.

Good topic for discussion! The "porno on the internet" people want people of all ages to have full *rights* as adults, should we then assign them full *responsibilities* as well? (Considering some mid-Eastern countries chopping off a hand for stealing, etc.)

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), December 21, 2000.

Zero tolerance should be made plain in advance. Most likely the policy at this school was known to the boy. Letting him off the hook for slapping her butt is an open invitation to slapping or touching a different body part. At some point, some idiot will take it to the next level. Let the first level result in a penalty that includes removal of the offender. The less stupid will learn.

-- helen (b@r.f), December 21, 2000.

There's a reason you don't hear about this grab-ass stuff happening in Singapore. I say "cane" 'em!

-- CD (costavike@hotmail.com), December 21, 2000.

I don't believe the web should be censored, but I do think adult websites should be for adults only. I haven't even heard of anyone who wasn't a pedophile advocating everyone have access to pornography regardless of age.

I suspect there's more to this case than meets the eye. We had a similar incident at a local school a couple of years ago. A boy had gotten kicked out of school for snapping a girl's bra strap, at least that's the way it was originally reported. People thought it was ridiculous, until it came to light that he hadn't just snapped her bra, he'd all but ripped it off, as well as her shirt.

Does anyone have another link?

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), December 21, 2000.

Tarzan,

Several threads down...

Link

Helpfully,

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), December 21, 2000.

Hmmmmm... interesting thread. While I don't advocate kids having access to porn, I must say that it's the parent's responsibility to keep porn from their kids. It's certainly much easier to check your computer's web logs then it is for a kid to disable censorware. From the Peacefire.org site: "What kind of sites are blocked by the different blocking programs?

A: The controversy over blocking software does not center on the blocking of chicken breast recipes, breast cancer information, Anne Sexton, or "Superbowl XXX". It is true that these sites are accidentally blocked by blocking software programs that scan pages for certain keywords, as almost all of them do. However, the controversy centers on sites that are blocked not accidentally but deliberately. These are URL's that come pre-included on the list of sites to be blocked by the program, regardless of the content of the pages themselves. Some examples: CYBERsitter blocked TIME Magazine as a result of an article that criticized CYBERsitter's blocking policies. TIME published a follow- up article about their site getting blocked: CYBERsitter Decides To Take A Time Out (follow the link and scroll down to the second article on the page)
Cyber Patrol blocks the Envirolink animal rights Web site, because the manufacturer determined that Envirolink's descriptions of animal testing in laboratories were inappropriate for children. Cyber Patrol was also discovered to be blocking the Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance at one point. A report from the non-profit Censorware Project listed dozens of additional sites that were blocked by Cyber Patrol.

An ACLU position paper reported that BESS, which controls Internet access used by about 3 million students in the U.S., blocked the anti- racist HateWatch Web site and the Marijuana Policy Project, a page that advocates the use of medical marijuana.

The X-Stop Files, an essay published in October 1997 by attorney Jonathan Wallace, named some of the sites that were hard-coded on X- Stop's list of blocked URL's, including the AIDS Quilt and the official home page of the Quakers. Mr. Wallace was later called to testify on his findings in a First Amendment lawsuit filed by People For the American Way against a library that was using X- Stop."

While I disagree with their opinion on minors having access to adult material, I have to share their alarm about censorware. There's some scary folks out there. One more thing. Frank, why do you think that exposure to pornography will cause minors to "start executing eight year-olds"?

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), December 21, 2000.

Tarzan,

One more thing. Frank, why do you think that exposure to pornography will cause minors to "start executing eight year-olds"?

I've had a very long day. Please tell me this was a joke of some kind.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), December 21, 2000.

You go first.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), December 21, 2000.

Wait a minute. I just re-read what you said. The "they" who will execute eight year-olds aren't porn-addled minors but the state. Sorry for the confusion.

I still don't understand where you get the link between pornography and murderous pre-adolescents however.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), December 21, 2000.

Tarzan,

You don't really have rights without responsibilities (although some people try to do this). For example, you can't have the "right" to drink alcohol, without the "responsibility" to not drive after becoming intoxicated, and risking the lives of others.

With kids, they have traditionally NOT been given the rights of adults, as IMO they are felt to not fully understand the consequences of what they're doing, and thus it wouldn't be appropriate to hold them accountable for their actions.

However, if libertarians succeed in increasing the rights of children, the children at that point will have to be held responsible at greater and greater levels, accordingly. If you decide that eventually children have *all* the rights of adults, they'll of necessity get the same punishments for their actions AS adults, hence the possibility of executing children, imprisoning children, etc.

Also, I don't know much about mid-East laws, but DO they have minimum ages for corporal punishments now?

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), December 21, 2000.