Ohio teen sentenced to juvenile detention for violent assault of teacher, who calls sentence ‘unfair’

A 15-year-old Ohio student has been sentenced to an indefinite term at the Department of Youth Services following a violent assault on his 60-year-old teacher.

The Colerain High School student will serve a minimum of one year, the judge ruled on Friday, but the victim, who nearly died, hoped for a more severe punishment.

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

On April 19, the student pleaded guilty to the felonious 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 District Attorney for a more severe punishment.

“No teacher should fear going to work on interacting with their students,” the Hamilton County DA said in a statement, according to the New York Post. “Currently, there is no evidence to suggest this was anything other than a vicious attack by the juvenile.

“It is fortunate that the victim is alive today. This is an incredibly 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 her head by one of her male students, on whom the teacher was about to call security for punching another student, Fox 19 Now reported. 

“She said she was going to call the police, and I started punching,” the student told an officer following the event, according to The Post.  

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

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

The teacher was rushed to the hospital where doctors had to remove part of her skull to relieve 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 lawyer, Clyde Bennett II, claimed the boy’s behavior was altered after he unknowingly consumed drugs through a vape someone gave him just before the attack. 

“This young man from a great family has no criminal record and basically consumed vape and didn’t know drugs were in it, and it precipitated or facilitated his conduct thereafter,” Bennett said, according to The Post. “So, he should not be treated like the other individuals you see on the news wreaking havoc on the community.” 

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

It is one of a number of violent attacks on teachers by students in the last couple of years. 

One brutal assault in Florida, captured on surveillance video, showed a student repeatedly kicking and punching a teach as she lay unconscious on the floor. It took several faculty and staff to drag him off the motionless teacher.  

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