Officials in New Jersey have filed charges against three teenagers who allegedly harassed a fellow student to the point of suicide, marking the first time the state’s tough, new antibullying law has been invoked to support criminal charges.
Prosecutors in Morris County announced May 31 that three Morristown High School students would face various charges of assault, robbery, conspiracy and other counts, stemming from several incidents earlier this year that prosecutors allege led to the March suicide of 15-year-old Lennon Baldwin.
Charges were filed against two of the students, who are not being identified as they are minors, in March, and obstruction charges were added last week. Nineteen-year-old Michael Conway was also charged with lying to authorities.
Investigators say the one of the youth assaulted Lennon, a freshman, March 6 and was summarily suspended by the school. It is unclear why Baldwin was targeted, and there is no indication the bullying was related to his sexual orientation.
To retaliate for the suspension, the accused student and a friend allegedly robbed Baldwin of cash at an off-campus location a few days later. Prosecutors say Conway was present for the robbery.
The day after the youth were charged, Baldwin committed suicide.
Morris County Prosecutor Michael Bianchi said in a statement last week that the state’s new antibullying law enabled law enforcement to aggressively pursue the incident.
“The new law addresses the reality that school harassment, intimidation and bullying has a potentially devastating effect on the individual offenders and the entire community,” Bianchi said. “The ‘Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act’ set forth standards for preventing, reporting, investigating and responding to incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying of students on school grounds, at any school-sponsored function, on a school bus and off school grounds. When these bullying incidents surround acts that constitute assault, harassment, threats, robbery and sexual offenses, we will criminally prosecute.”
Bianchi noted that the law requires school officials to report incidents of bullying to law enforcement, which helped with the swift prosecution of the alleged offenders in March.
Gov. Chris Christie signed the measure into law last year, and it is considered to be one of the toughest in the nation. The law requires antibullying policies in all schools, sets down strict reporting policies and creates training and education programs — all of which must be LGBT-inclusive.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].