Death of Phoebe Prince
Encyclopedia
The suicide of Phoebe Prince, on January 14, 2010, led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers for charges including statutory rape and civil rights violations, as well as to the enactment of stricter anti-bullying legislation
by the Massachusetts
state
legislature.
Prince had moved from Ireland
to South Hadley
, Massachusetts. Her suicide
, after suffering months of bullying from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of bullying in US schools. In March 2010, a state anti-bullying task force was set up as a result of her death. The Massachusetts legislation was signed into law on May 3, 2010.
The trial for those accused in the case occurred in 2011, with pre-trial hearings beginning on September 15, 2010. Sentences of probation and community service were handed down after guilty pleas on May 5, 2011.
, England
, United Kingdom
, on November 24, 1994, and moved to the seaside community of Fanore
in County Clare
, Ireland, when she was two. Prince attended Villiers Secondary School
, a private school in County Limerick
, where she reportedly suffered problems. She immigrated to the U.S. in the fall of 2009 with her American mother and four siblings. Her mother lived in Boston for a few years. The choice of South Hadley, Massachusetts was reportedly because of the presence of extended family, including an aunt, identified in news accounts as Eileen Moore. Her father, a British national, reportedly chose to remain in nearby Lisdoonvarna, rather than emigrate. Prince was attending South Hadley High School at the time of her death at age 15, on January 14, 2010.
On January 14, 2010, after a day of harassment and taunting, followed by a final incident in which a student threw a can at her from a passing car as she walked home from school, Prince committed suicide by hanging herself in the stairwell leading to the second floor of the family apartment. Her body was discovered by her 12-year-old sister. After her death, many crude comments about her were posted on her Facebook
memorial page, most of which were removed. Her parents chose to have Prince interred in Ireland.
. In efforts to promote national anti-bullying legislation, a "Phoebe’s Law" has been proposed. In July 2010, the South Hadley school committee adopted a more comprehensive anti-bullying policy.
for the two male teenagers involved (both adults under Massachusetts law) to violation of civil rights, criminal harassment, disturbance of a school assembly, and stalking. Additional delinquency complaints were also filed against the three female minors indicted by the grand jury. One was charged with assault with a deadly weapon for throwing a can at Phoebe Prince. A separate delinquency complaint was filed against one of the three female minors for assault and battery against another victim at South Hadley High School (a girl who was attacked at school after appearing in a TV news report describing the bullying that took place at South Hadley High School). At least four of these six students reportedly were still attending South Hadley High School when the charges were announced.
In her statement, D.A. Scheibel directly contradicted previous claims by school Superintendent Gus Sayer that school officials had been unaware of the bullying at the school:
Scheibel indicated that the investigation was ongoing and that charges against additional South Hadley students were likely. She urged schools to adopt anti-bullying awareness and training programs for staff and students and expressed the wishes of the Prince family to refrain from vigilantism and to seek justice only through the criminal justice system. "Now is not the time for retributions or reprisals," Scheibel said.
Two days after the District Attorney's news conference, school superintendent Gus Sayer again denied that school administrators had ignored the bullying of Phoebe Prince. South Hadley school officials released a statement that "we have taken disciplinary action with an additional small group of students and they have been removed from the high school." However, the school statement was unclear as to whether any of the accused individuals were actually expelled from the school. At least one news report stated that all of the accused were still at the school.
Three of the accused pleaded not guilty through their lawyers in Hampshire Superior Court on April 6. Another three, minors under Massachusetts law (under age 17), pleaded not guilty to delinquency charges on April 8 in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court in Hadley
. The three female minors were also arraigned as youthful offenders on the adult felony charges. All six defendants waived their right to appear in court and did not appear at their arraignment hearings. All were ordered to stay away from the Prince family.
Initial media reports that nine teenagers had been charged were incorrect and were caused by DA Scheibel's sequential listing of the grand jury and Juvenile Court charges in her press conference. The confusion came about because Scheibel could not release the names of those charged in the juvenile delinquency complaints because of confidentiality laws. However, subsequently it has been confirmed that there were only six teenagers charged in all.
On the day of Prince's suicide, three of the accused, including the male football player who had earlier had the relationship with Prince, allegedly engaged in persistent taunting and harassment of Prince at school, in the library and school auditorium. One of the accused allegedly followed Prince home from school in a friend's car, threw an empty can at her, and yelled an insult. It was right after this final incident that Phoebe Prince hanged herself at home.
Copies of the court documents with the full details of the case against the three female minors were posted on a CNN webpage.
In May 2011, the case was resolved, after agreements to plead guilty to lesser charges. All of the defendants were placed on probation, and a few were also sentenced to community service.
Anti-bullying legislation
-History:Forty-seven states in the United States have passed school anti-bullying legislation, the first being Georgia in 1999. The two states without anti-bullying legislation are Michigan, and Montana. A watchdog organization called Bully Police USA advocates for and reports on anti-bullying...
by the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
legislature.
Prince had moved from Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
to South Hadley
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, Massachusetts. Her suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, after suffering months of bullying from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of bullying in US schools. In March 2010, a state anti-bullying task force was set up as a result of her death. The Massachusetts legislation was signed into law on May 3, 2010.
The trial for those accused in the case occurred in 2011, with pre-trial hearings beginning on September 15, 2010. Sentences of probation and community service were handed down after guilty pleas on May 5, 2011.
Background
Phoebe Nora Mary Prince was born in BedfordBedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, on November 24, 1994, and moved to the seaside community of Fanore
Fanore
Fanore is a small village in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland.Lying on the road between Ballyvaughan and Doolin, Fanore is renowned for its extensive sandy beach. The village is very popular with walkers, surfers, tourists and is particularly interesting to botanists, owing to its...
in County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, Ireland, when she was two. Prince attended Villiers Secondary School
Villiers Secondary School
Villiers School is a co-educational, fee paying, boarding and day secondary school, located on the North Circular Road, Limerick, Ireland. It is Limerick city's only fee paying protestant secondary school.-History:...
, a private school in County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, where she reportedly suffered problems. She immigrated to the U.S. in the fall of 2009 with her American mother and four siblings. Her mother lived in Boston for a few years. The choice of South Hadley, Massachusetts was reportedly because of the presence of extended family, including an aunt, identified in news accounts as Eileen Moore. Her father, a British national, reportedly chose to remain in nearby Lisdoonvarna, rather than emigrate. Prince was attending South Hadley High School at the time of her death at age 15, on January 14, 2010.
Bullying incidents and suicide
Having recently moved to the U.S. from Ireland, Prince was taunted and bullied for several months by at least two groups of students at South Hadley High School, reportedly because of disputes with other girls over her brief relationships with a senior high school football player and another male student. Her aunt allegedly warned school officials in August 2009, prior to Prince's enrollment at the school, to watch after Prince, as she was "susceptible" to bullying and was bullied in Ireland.On January 14, 2010, after a day of harassment and taunting, followed by a final incident in which a student threw a can at her from a passing car as she walked home from school, Prince committed suicide by hanging herself in the stairwell leading to the second floor of the family apartment. Her body was discovered by her 12-year-old sister. After her death, many crude comments about her were posted on her Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
memorial page, most of which were removed. Her parents chose to have Prince interred in Ireland.
Reaction
A meeting held at the school to discuss the problem of bullying at the school brought parents who stated that bullying of their children had been completely ignored by the school administration. Massachusetts state lawmakers sped up efforts to pass anti-bullying legislation as a result of this incident, and the measure was signed into law on May 3, 2010. Inspired by the Massachusetts bill, similar legislation was introduced in New York StateNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. In efforts to promote national anti-bullying legislation, a "Phoebe’s Law" has been proposed. In July 2010, the South Hadley school committee adopted a more comprehensive anti-bullying policy.
Criminal case
On March 29, 2010, Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel announced at a press conference that nine teenagers from South Hadley High School were indicted as adults on felony charges by a Hampshire County grand jury. Charges ranged from statutory rapeStatutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
for the two male teenagers involved (both adults under Massachusetts law) to violation of civil rights, criminal harassment, disturbance of a school assembly, and stalking. Additional delinquency complaints were also filed against the three female minors indicted by the grand jury. One was charged with assault with a deadly weapon for throwing a can at Phoebe Prince. A separate delinquency complaint was filed against one of the three female minors for assault and battery against another victim at South Hadley High School (a girl who was attacked at school after appearing in a TV news report describing the bullying that took place at South Hadley High School). At least four of these six students reportedly were still attending South Hadley High School when the charges were announced.
In her statement, D.A. Scheibel directly contradicted previous claims by school Superintendent Gus Sayer that school officials had been unaware of the bullying at the school:
Scheibel indicated that the investigation was ongoing and that charges against additional South Hadley students were likely. She urged schools to adopt anti-bullying awareness and training programs for staff and students and expressed the wishes of the Prince family to refrain from vigilantism and to seek justice only through the criminal justice system. "Now is not the time for retributions or reprisals," Scheibel said.
Two days after the District Attorney's news conference, school superintendent Gus Sayer again denied that school administrators had ignored the bullying of Phoebe Prince. South Hadley school officials released a statement that "we have taken disciplinary action with an additional small group of students and they have been removed from the high school." However, the school statement was unclear as to whether any of the accused individuals were actually expelled from the school. At least one news report stated that all of the accused were still at the school.
Three of the accused pleaded not guilty through their lawyers in Hampshire Superior Court on April 6. Another three, minors under Massachusetts law (under age 17), pleaded not guilty to delinquency charges on April 8 in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court in Hadley
Hadley, Massachusetts
Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area around Hampshire Mall and Mountain Farms Mall along Route 9 is a major shopping destination for the surrounding...
. The three female minors were also arraigned as youthful offenders on the adult felony charges. All six defendants waived their right to appear in court and did not appear at their arraignment hearings. All were ordered to stay away from the Prince family.
Initial media reports that nine teenagers had been charged were incorrect and were caused by DA Scheibel's sequential listing of the grand jury and Juvenile Court charges in her press conference. The confusion came about because Scheibel could not release the names of those charged in the juvenile delinquency complaints because of confidentiality laws. However, subsequently it has been confirmed that there were only six teenagers charged in all.
On the day of Prince's suicide, three of the accused, including the male football player who had earlier had the relationship with Prince, allegedly engaged in persistent taunting and harassment of Prince at school, in the library and school auditorium. One of the accused allegedly followed Prince home from school in a friend's car, threw an empty can at her, and yelled an insult. It was right after this final incident that Phoebe Prince hanged herself at home.
Copies of the court documents with the full details of the case against the three female minors were posted on a CNN webpage.
In May 2011, the case was resolved, after agreements to plead guilty to lesser charges. All of the defendants were placed on probation, and a few were also sentenced to community service.
External links
- Chapter 92 of the Acts of 2010 - Massachusetts anti-bullying law.