Four Rhode Island teens have been charged after a disturbing video showing them assaulting a special needs student is uncovered.
The shocking video capturing this unbelievable act of cruelty was recorded in the locker room of Rogers High School in New Port on Friday, November 21st, before a football game.
The fallout from the video has led to the arrests of four teens involved and the cancelation of the remainder of the school's football season.
In the video, you see a teenage boy on his knees, holding his hands in prayer to beg for the teen assaulter to stop. You see another teen towering over him and repeatedly striking him with an orange strap while demanding an apology. Another student can also be seen striking the teen with a belt. The victim can be heard pleading and begging for the assault to stop. The other teens in the locker room can all be heard laughing with no one attempting to intervene, but rather choosing to film the awful incident. Shame on all of them.
The victim ultimately endured a barrage of injuries, including multiple strikes to the face.
The victim is the coaches assistant, a young man who suffers from multiple genetic disorders and is a special needs student. All of his attackers were members of the school's football team.
After the video became public, it would eventually lead to the arrest of all four students.
The first arrest occurred on Friday when police arrested a 16-year-old student and charged him with two counts of assault.
The next day, on Saturday, November 22nd, another 16-year-old student was arrested and charged with one count of assault.
The final arrests would come on Monday, November 24th, when a 14-year-old and 17-year-old were both arrested and charged with one count of assault each.
The entire community is outraged after learning about the video with one community member condemning the student who recorded the video. He contended that rather than videoing the incident, the individual should have stopped it immediately. I agree.
The Newport School Committee is meeting to discuss hiring a third-party investigator and how they can empower students to speak up.
The Committee's Vice President, Rebecca Bolan, described their goal as, "To work with all of our kids about how your responsibilities are when something like this happens, how to react, how to insert yourself."
The Newport police are still actively investigating the incident and ask for anyone with more information regarding the assault to please call 1-401-845-5772.
The identities of the victim and his assaulters is being withheld due to their ages.
Our thoughts are with this student and we hope he gets Justice.
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