Charges Elevated for Four New Jersey Teens in Connection to Attack on Adriana Kuch
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The four teens accused of orchestrating the beating of 14-year-old Adriana Kuch, which her father said led her to take her own life, have had their charges upgraded in New Jersey.
Kuch was found dead at her home in Bayville on February 3. Days before her death, a gruesome video spread online showing Kuch being attacked by a group of thugs in the hallways of Central Regional High School.
Initially, four girls were charged with third-degree assault and a fourth was charged with disorderly conduct. They were also indefinitely suspended from school.
On Friday, Ocean County District Attorney Bradley D. Billhimer announced that the charges against the teens had been updated.
One is now charged with aggravated assault and could be charged as an adult, one with harassment and two with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
According to her father, Kuch was “smashed in the face three times with a water bottle” and “passed out.” She then had to take her daughter covered in blood to the police station to file a report because the school refused to do so.
Adriana Kuch, who attended Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, was found dead in her home two days after the shocking video surfaced on February 1, police said.
Billhimer said: “Each juvenile and their guardian have received a copy of their complaint and are released pending future court appearances.” None of the teens behind the attack have been identified.
The 20-second viral clip shows several students attacking the teen and hitting her with a water bottle as she was walking with her boyfriend. Bystanders are also seen laughing at Adriana after she was punched, kicked and had her hair pulled, as she lay in a fetal position on the school hallway floor.
One of the attackers could be heard yelling: ‘That’s what you get you stupid **b****’.
Under New Jersey law, juveniles charged with more serious crimes, such as assault, can be tried in adult criminal court. The decision to charge or not as an adult rests with the prosecutor.
The penalty for an aggravated assault conviction in New Jersey ranges from 18 months to 10 years in prison.
Harassment and conspiracy charges against a minor are less likely to be brought to criminal court.
Kuch’s father, Michael, told DailyMail.com on Friday that the school board was reluctant to expel the bullies because they feared a loss of income.
He said, ‘If my daughter is only worth $23,000 a head to them, why would they lose four students, then what is the value of anybody’s son?’
Her family says the teen’s funeral, which was due to take place on Saturday, has now been cancelled. There were no Central Regional High School faculty members present for the visit.
Michael Kuch, shown here visiting his daughter on Friday, told DailyMail.com he was speaking with a family lawyer about the family’s next legal steps.
Michael Kuch speaking to DailyMail.com outside his daughter’s visit
Michael told DailyMail.com his daughter was not suspended in the days leading up to her death, but was told not to return until she was injured as she might have been the subject of further ridicule.
We can’t stop crying, this is the last time I will see her.
‘It wasn’t supposed to happen, we hear it over and over again, your son isn’t supposed to go before you.’
School superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides tried to deflect blame from his department after the tragedy.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘Her father was having an affair at the end of her sixth grade. Her father married the woman he had an affair with and moved her into the house.
Parlapanides continued: ‘His grades and options decreased in 7th and 8th grade. We offered him drug rehabilitation and mental services five times, but the father refused each time.’
On Friday, Michael Kuch said of Parlapanides: ‘What’s insensitive is him going on social media and defending his actions and attacking other people.
“The administration must be completely shaken and by shake I mean they must be removed,” he added.
Michael Kuch continued: “I don’t know why he’s been in there so long. I have no idea why that man still has a job.”
He went on to say that he is in talks with a family lawyer about the family’s next legal steps. He also said that lawyers from all over the country have been in contact with him.