A judge said the student, now 18, showed no remorse for the beating. His mother said he has mental health conditions and needs help.
A Florida student accused of beating a school employee unconscious after she confiscated his Nintendo Switch last year was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday, court records show.
Brendan Depa, 18, pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated battery on an elected official or education employee, according to sentencing documents from the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court in Flagler County.
Depa, who was 17 at the time of the assault, was also sentenced to 15 years of probation.
I’m normally not one to champion extreme prison sentences, but 5 years really doesn’t seem like enough in this case. I remember seeing the video, and it’s clear that the kid has some major issues that aren’t going to be solved by a few years of prison time. He kept attacking her after it was clear she was already unconscious; whether it’s over a video game or not, that is not healthy behavior. Most people know, even in high-stress self defense situations, that once somebody is unconscious, you don’t keep attacking them. He had no issue attacking somebody he knew was completely defenseless. That’s sociopathic behavior.
Most people don’t come out as better people because prison does nothing to actually rehabilitate people, but I can’t imagine this doesn’t make him even worse. He needs to be hospitalized, otherwise in 5 years we’ll probably see his name in the news again.
Correct. Imprisonment of a 17yo with mental health issues is guaranteed to make things worse. He needs psychiatric treatment and behavioral therapy, not caging, to become able to properly function in civilized society.
Prison life will only reinforce his violent impulses, making SURE that he’s fucked up for life.
Agreed.
I’d say prison and thearpy would be better. Those hospitals they send people to are in a lot of cases worse than prison because the people there have even less rights and there is even less oversight.