High schoolers who branded student’s buttocks during trip to N.J. military base sentenced to jail

NJ.com ^ | 6/28/2019 | Chris Sheldon

[usafa92]

The hazing antics of two New York City high school students during a school trip stop at a New Jersey motel last year that included branding a fellow student’s buttocks have landed them a two year prison sentence, officials said.

The students, whose names were not released because of their age, pleaded guilty earlier this month to two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated hazing and three counts of hazing, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.

The Queens-based Francis Lewis High School students will serve their time at the New Jersey Training School in Monroe Township, prosecutors said.

“We believe this outcome strikes the right balance in cases involving juvenile criminal conduct, providing sufficient accountability for the defendants while advancing the rehabilitative purposes of the juvenile justice system,” Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a release. “I would like to commend the victims and their families for their courage in coming forward and seeing this case through."

[usafa92]

Largest JROTC program in the country. Seems to be a case of HS kids getting way out of hand and a few having a little power trip. Maybe they just watched Animal House beforehand.

[Vermont Lt]

I am happy these clowns are going to prison and not the Air Force.

[dead]

I don't remember anybody getting branded in Animal House.

I do remember seeing plenty of black guys in college with the Omega fraternity brand. White fraternities got put on probation if they made their pledges wear an ugly hat.

[PghBaldy]

2 years? That seems excessive.

[TexasGator]

“I am happy these clowns are going to prison “

Not exactly prison.

[gundog]

There’s a branding in “Jackass 2” And “Jarhead.”

[EEGator]

Those look like they hurt quite a bit.

[Vermont Lt]

Those places in my state have very tall fences.

At least they are in the service.

[CondorFlight]

2 years? I think we need to cut them some slack. These are high school kids, and high school kids do stupid things.

They aren’t adults.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks usafa92. "Getting caught and punished for a violent crime put them on the road to a lifetime of, uh, violent crime and incarceration! [sobs]"

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[BobL]

They should have been in a large barracks, with the leader there too. Not sure how anyone can trust a bunch of high school kids in motel rooms.

[AndyJackson]

one of victims was burned on his buttocks with a hot iron

Only two years for THIS? When you use any sort of tool or implement to effect mayhem the penalty should be topped by exactly only a couple of other crimes - rape, kidnapping and murder.

[Does so]

I’d want the option of the perps being re-branded in the same manner.

[Hot Tabasco]

Wonder where HS kids get the idea that “hazing” is now an acceptable practice anyway?

[Hot Tabasco]

Regarding hazing, I won’t do stupid crap just to gain acceptance into a group.....

[MNDude]

Could you put a red-hot iron to somebody’s skin? This act requires a very high level of Cruelty. I believe the sentence is appropriate for the crime.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I agree wholeheartedly. Wantonly disfiguring another person's body is a serious crime, that ought to have serious consequences. Even as a callow youth I (and my peers) knew that this was a boundary that could never be crossed.

[bgill]

If it’s juvie, it’s not prison.

[Rebelbase]

Branding the buttocks

Big laugh then but it’s a fail.

Enjoy your time with Bubba

[MayflowerMadam]

“I think we need to cut them some slack. These are high school kids,”

But what they did to another person’s body is extreme. Assault? Battery? Maybe they’re kids, but they know better and acted more like animals than humans. Going to pretend prison for two years isn’t enough, IMO.