The Illinois juvenile who reportedly severely beat a fellow middle-school student has been charged in juvenile court. The attack reportedly happened on Feb. 3 at a middle school that is located in South Elgin.
The juvenile who has been charged appeared in court on Feb. 21 and was placed on electronic home monitoring. The 14-year-old had the charges explained to him and was appointed a public defender to represent him. The boy is facing a charge of felony aggravated battery, which carries a potential penalty of five years in a state juvenile justice facility. He is also facing two misdemeanor offenses.
The boy was ordered to go straight home after school each day and not to leave his house unless it is to go to school. He is apparently attending a school other than the one at which the 12-year-old was attacked. His next court date is scheduled for April 4. The boy was ordered to undergo an evaluation, and a social history report was ordered. The 12-year-old who was reportedly assaulted had to be placed in a medically-induced coma after the attack, but he has since been released from the hospital.
When minors are charged with juvenile crimes, their cases will normally proceed through the juvenile court, which follows different procedures and has different penalties than the adult court does. When cases are serious, prosecutors may seek to certify the minors as adults. If this happens, the minors then face the penalties that adults face for similar crimes. Juveniles and their families might want to seek help from experienced criminal defense attorneys whose work includes defending both minors in juvenile court as well as adults in criminal court.
Source: Daily Herald, “Juvenile charged in South Elgin middle school beating“, Harry Hitzeman, Feb. 21, 2017.