Transformation

The article from TBO.com....

Deputies: Teens Made Video of Beating For Web
By NEIL JOHNSON The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 6, 2008
Updated: 04/06/2008 08:08 pm

TAMPA - Six teenage girls took turns punching and kicking Victoria Lindsay while others made a video recording of the beating, which went on for 30 minutes.

Two other teens kept watch outside, even knocking on the front door to tell the girls they were making too much noise and that neighbors were becoming curious, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

While they were beating her, the girls taunted Lindsay, bragging that they were going to post video of the attack on YouTube and MySpace, according to an arrest report.
Deputies last week arrested eight teens accused of taking part in the March 30 beating, which left Lindsay with a concussion, damage to her left eye and ear and numerous bruises, the sheriff's office reported.

Stephen Thomas Schumaker, 18, of 6020 Calendar Court W. in Lakeland, was arrested on charges of false imprisonment and battery. He was one of the lookouts, according to his arrest report. Schumaker was released after posting $5,000 bail, jail records show.

Schumaker could not be reached for comment Sunday night, but his father, Robert, said his son had no involvement in the beating.

Robert Schumaker said he talked to neighbors who told him his son was not at the house acting as a lookout.

"They didn't do anything," Robert Schumaker said of his son and another teenage boy, also arrested and accused of being a lookout. "I would like for the detectives to listen to the neighbors and clear my son's name."

The six girls accused of attacking Lindsay were arrested on the same false imprisonment and battery charges, both third-degree felonies. The teens, whose ages are unknown, were charged as juveniles and booked into the Polk County Juvenile Assessment Center.

Lindsay's father said the teens attacked her to make a video that might become popular on YouTube, the video-sharing Web site. But the mother of one of the girls arrested said Lindsay had provoked the other teens by threatening and insulting them on the MySpace social-networking Web site.

According to Schumaker's arrest report, here's what happened:

Lindsay showed up at a friend's house on Calendar Court, down the street from Schumaker's, where she had been staying while having problems with her parents. Her friend and another girl started yelling and threatening her. After walking into her room, Lindsay was confronted by another girl, who insulted and threatened her. The girl hit Lindsay in the face several times, then slammed her head into the wall, knocking her out.

Lindsay woke up on a couch surrounded by six girls, who took turns punching and kicking her. She tried to leave several times, but the girls held her down and blocked her from leaving. The girls drove the victim to another house and let her get out of
the car, but with the warning: "If you go to the police, the next beating will
be worse."

Deputies recovered the video, which shows the beating and the teens blocking Lindsay's attempts to escape. The sheriff's office is expected to release the video and a transcript early this week.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter
Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

Excerpts Of The Video on TBO.com

You would not believe the response to this article! There were hundreds of comments posted. Here's mine (after reading all the comments and realizing that there are a lot of crazy people on the internet):

Posted by ( krisb ) on April 9, 2008 at 9:02 a.m.
While I agree that the parenting abilities of these teens' "parents" should be called into question, all of these "kids" are old enough to know what they were doing was wrong. It's high school, all drama drama drama, end of the world, big teen angst hour. I mean, who hasn't idly thought about smacking their enemy after nasty words are said?

The difference lies in the fact that these girls not only acted on the impulse, they cornered their victim. They "imprisoned" her, humiliated her, showing a sadly unsurprising level of cruelty. How can anyone here think that this is justified? I'm sure the video clip on this site is mild compared to the rest of the footage - tbo wouldn't want to upset their readers too much, after all.

I challenge all who have stood in defense of the attackers to consider this: if your kid sister, or childhood friend, or daughter, were attacked like this... if she was cornered and humiliated and pummeled on the head by six different people... would you really be okay with that? Just because she supposedly said something these girls didn't like? This isn't a movie, people. You don't get to cheer if teenaged vigilantism is acted out. Laws were broken. A girl has suffered permanent physical damage that she will have to live with for the rest of her life. Would you defend the attackers if it were personal? Call out for justice? Or, if your current example is anything to go by, would you
just seek your own revenge, law forgotten, and go after the attackers yourselves?
Yeah, I thought so.

Let these teens face their sentencing. We should expect juveniles to be held responsible for their actions, especially with such a serious offense. Though it makes my heart heavy to know they might "get off light", there is an equal chance that the judge they get will not be lenient in the least. And if they don't learn their lesson the first time, the next will most likely be more serious, and cause even more heated discussions.

Also, just a brief note, blaming myspace and youtube is crazy. It's like blaming the internet for porn. Porn was around long before Al Gore invented the net, and so was unnecessary violence. MySpace is a social networking site, and I, like many of the commenters before me, use it to keep in touch with out-of-state friends and family. You can't blame the site for the people who misuse it. Like I said... that's just crazy.

So... yeah, if you agree/disagree/don't care, drop me a line. Let me know. I may or may not post current event stuff, based on your response! How's that for pressure?

I thought it was a nice touch... *pout* Okay... so my humor is lacking while I'm fighting the plague. Give a girl a break or something... yeesh... [end transmission]