Teens may be tried as adults

Two Newport Harbor High School freshmen girls accused of beating a classmate and posting a video of it online could face charges as adults.

The 14-year-old girls are being processed through the Orange County juvenile system, but prosecutors are deciding whether to try them as adults. They also face possible expulsion from school, officials said.

Certain crimes are mandatory to file as if they were adults, like murder or forcible rape, assuming they’re 14 or older, said Susan Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s office. Other cases that are violent but not certain, fall under consideration in the Welfare and Institution Code 707. In such instances, a juvenile judge reviews the case and decides whether to file.

This may be the most likely scenario for the suspects, although if it’s determined that a case does not fall under the statutes to be tried as an adult it would be deemed confidential, Schroeder said.

A video of the alleged attack was posted on YouTube and advertised on a MySpace account, police said. Police arrested the girls Tuesday afternoon after a parent reported the video to authorities, police said.

Police initially reported the victim was mentally disabled, but investigators later said that was not true.

Police officials could not pinpoint where that information came from.

After a judge hears the case, the decision is whether to incarcerate the minors in a California Youth Agency, basically prison for children.

“What the judge is doing is making that minor a ward of the state,” Schroeder said.

Only in the most extreme cases will teens be held until they reach the age of 25, but most convicted minors are released no later than between their 18th and 21st birthdays, officials said.

“In a general sense, the objective of a juvenile court is different than the objective of an adult court,” Schroeder said. “In the juvenile system everything that everyone does — judge, attorneys, probation officers, etc. — everything in juvenile court is to rehabilitate the minor.”

Officials from YouTube declined to comment on the content of the video, but mentioned they do not control www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines“>content on the site.

In a letter to parents, Michael Vossen, principal of Newport Harbor High School, highlighted the opportunity for parents, teachers and children to address the potential harm websites like YouTube and MySpace inflict.

“Many of us can recall experiencing or witnessing hateful remarks from our high school days,” said Vossen in the letter. “Those remarks were usually spread either by word of mouth or in writing. But today, with the instant and public availability offered by websites such as YouTube and MySpace, our kids are turning more and more to the use of these mediums to spread hateful comments and images resulting in a more pronounced negative effect.”

For more information on laws involving juveniles, read the Superior Court’s www.occourts.org/juvenile/jjc/LawsForYouth05.pdf“>Laws For Youth.

KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected]. DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected]. KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected]. DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].