Ohio teenager sentenced to juvenile detention for violent attack on teacher, who calls sentence 'unjust'

A 15-year-old Ohio student was given an indeterminate sentence by the Department of Youth Services following a violent attack on his 60-year-old teacher.

The Colerain High School student will serve a minimum sentence of one year, the judge ruled Friday, but the victim, who nearly died, was hoping for a harsher sentence.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” the teacher said after the ruling, according to WCPO 9 News. “I think he should be detained permanently until he is 21, because my life has changed. I will never get back what I had before.

On April 19, the student pleaded guilty to the felony assault of his special education teacher as part of a plea deal with Hamilton County prosecutors. The deal meant the teen would not be tried as an adult, despite calls from the Hamilton County prosecutor for a harsher sentence.

“No teacher should fear interacting with their students,” the Hamilton County prosecutor said in a statement, according to the New York Post. “At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that this was anything other than a violent attack by the minor.

“It’s fortunate that the victim is alive today. This is an extremely serious matter and we intend to treat it as such. »

The assault took place in January, when the victim was repeatedly punched in the back of the head by one of her students, upon whom the teacher was about to call security for hitting another student, Fox 19 Now reported.

“She said she was going to call the police and I started hitting,” the student told a police officer after the event, according to The Post.

When another student told the suspect to stop hitting his teacher, he allegedly punched the walls and left the classroom.

After the attack, the teacher walked into the hallway holding her head, where she was heard saying, “Oh my God, oh my God, he tried to kill me.” He kept hitting me, he wouldn't stop,” according to Fox 19.

The teacher was rushed to hospital where doctors had to remove part of her skull to relieve the swelling. She was released a month later to live with her family, where she continues to relearn how to walk and talk, according to local media.

During the trial, the teen's attorney, Clyde Bennett II, claimed the boy's behavior changed after he unknowingly consumed drugs through vaping that someone one had administered to him just before the attack.

“This young man from a large family has no criminal record and was primarily consuming vape without knowing that drugs were involved, which precipitated or facilitated his subsequent conduct,” Bennett said , according to the Post. “So he should not be treated like the other individuals you see on the news wreaking havoc in the community. »

But a toxicology report revealed the teen had only a small amount of THC in his system, according to WCPO 9 News.

This is one of several violent attacks on teachers by students over the past two years.

A brutal assault in Florida, captured on surveillance video, showed a student repeatedly kicking and punching a teacher as she lay unconscious on the floor. It took several faculty and staff members to remove him from the immobile professor.

In that case, the teen was tried as an adult and faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, according to The Post.