Posted on 08/07/2005 9:58:33 PM PDT by lunarbicep
A 15-year-old boy who pinched and twisted the nipples of a 13-year-old has been sentenced to three days of community service for harassment.
David Thumler, 15, said the "titty-twister" was just horseplay. The mother of 13-year-old Matthew Cox counters that the incident was humiliating for her son, who saw it as an assault from an older, bigger bully.
"They're not friends," she said. "If he was my son's friend, it would be a different thing," said Bobby Cox.
In addition to the community service, Thumler has been ordered to pay a $67 fine and the misdemeanor has been placed on his permanent record. He can request to have it removed when he turns 18.
Ken Chapman, a Jackson County juvenile probation supervisor, said Oregon law defines physical harassment as "offensive physical touching."
That includes such adolescent antics as "wet-willies," "wedgies," "swirlies," "noogies" and all other forms of "Three Stooges" behavior, Chapman said.
According to David, the two boys were in line at a local deli when Matthew jokingly made an embarrassing remark to the female clerk about David. In retaliation, David counterattacked with the "titty-twister," the 15-year-old said.
"It's a thing of camaraderie," David said. "If he's going to assume our friendship is on that level, then so am I."
A lawyer hired by the 15-year-old's family called the juvenile court's actions "Orwellian."
"They call this 'baby assault,'" said Michael Kellington, a criminal defense attorney in Medford, hired by the family.
Even Bobby Cox said she was surprised to hear that her husbands' call to Gold Hill police resulted in court time for the boy. "Nobody informed me it would be a full-blown trial," she said.
According to Kellington, the incident was blown out of proportion in part because David's mother refused to let him show up for an initial hearing in juvenile court. Christine Alford, David's mother, said she did not let her son attend the hearing because she had seen photos of teenagers in handcuffs on the county's Web site.
Kellington said that Alford's refusal to let David go upped the ante and brought down "unfair, Draconian measures" upon her son. What should have been a discussion between first-time-offender and a representative of the juvenile justice system became a court trial.
"The mom is understandably fearful," said Kellington. "You shouldn't retaliate for the decision of a parent upon the child."
Chapman, the juvenile probation supervisor, said the mother should have known better.
"'Hearing' doesn't mean 'taking into custody,'" he said. "When we take someone into custody, we don't make appointments. If there's a consequence for not coming in informally, well, that's one they chose."
Nyuk nyuk nyuk!
Oooooooooh Scarrry.....
I don't think the Stooges ever did a "titty twister." The eye-poke thing, yes. Hitting the other guy over the head with a hammer, yes. Smacking him with a board or a pipe, yes. Squeezing the nose with a pair of pliers, yes. But no titty twisters. That's just juvenile.
As opposed to "teddy-turner" and the other Bobby Cox.
The 3 Stooges never did that. How dare the MSM defame our beloved Stooges!
Whistle and I will let go.
No chance of seeing a titty twister in any episode. A pineapple with a string attached to it, yes.
the MSM let "facts" get in the way?
I thot maybe he did the handsaw across the top of the head ... the stooges never did 'the twister'
How far will we let the weak-kneed sissies go? Man there used to be a time when people actually took pride and stuck up for themselves, even if it meant getting their butts kicked. Speaking from experience here, and it earned me respect.
...howcome Mommy was speaking for the 13-year old? Teens are adults who can have abortions and deserve privacy. So why is Mom butting in--and where is NAMBLA, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU to stand up for this homosexual, consensual behavior and tell Mom to shut up?
/sarcasm
I thought that a titty twister called for a knee to the 'nads! It worked for me!
WTF??? Have people gone insane?
What (at most) should have been a conversation between parents and children has become a nanny-state circus, complete with the entire entourage.
How can children learn to sort their differences out like adults when the adults go running to the authorities over stuff this dumb?
The humiliation of a "titty twister" is nothing compared to being in the news for mom and dad whining about it.
ARRRRRRGH!
I don't remember that ever happening on "The 3 Stooges."
But I'm with the mother. I wanted to kill a lot of people in school who did that to me.
lol!
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