The last of the juvenile defendants was sentenced Wednesday in connection with an after-school melee involving Allentown high school students that left two teens hospitalized.
The 17-year-old boy admitted to a felony count of riot and a misdemeanor count of simple assault related to the Oct. 25 attacks that involved a mob of 50 Dieruff High School students, 20 of whom attacked two teen boys.
Prosecutors previously sought to have the teenager certified as an adult in his case, meaning the charges would move to adult Perabet court.
Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach denied the request, keeping the case in juvenile court. Juvenile hearings are normally closed to the public, but can be open for kids 14 or older who are charged with a felony.
Mob of 50 beats 2 near Allentown high school, cops say
The boy, who was 16 at the time of the attack, had just been discharged from a secure juvenile treatment facility in Danville, Pennsylvania, when he was arrested in connection with the assaults. Juvenile probation officials said at the time that Dieruff officials sought to expel the teen, but eventually he was given a second chance.
On Wednesday, Banach ordered that the teen be sent to the secure treatment unit at Loysville Youth Development Center in Perry County. The program usually runs nine months to one year.
Banach has presided over some of the other Dieruff juvenile cases, and said on Wednesday she did not need to review the “sickening” videos of the assault again.
“I saw boys who acted like savages,” the judge said.
Banach described watching the group of 20 kids actively assaulting the two victims, including hitting, punching and kicking.
“But then I saw one boy go down, and it wasn’t enough for you, that he went down to the ground,” Banach said.
The video showed Javien Sabater stomping on the back of the victim’s neck, the judge said.
“That was really too much for me. I almost had to look away, except I had to watch. It’s my job,” Banach said.
Sabater was originally charged as an adult in his case, but the charges were later moved to juvenile court. He was sent in December to CONCERN treatment unit for boys in Lehighton.
Armed 15-year-old sentenced in Dieruff group attack
Authorities said a female Dieruff student was being mistreated during lunch on Oct. 25, and two 16-year-old boys stood up for her. That led to a confrontation, and the two sides planned to meet after school to fight, according to police.
The two 16-year-olds were met by a group of 50 students at North Kearney and East Washington streets, and the victims were assaulted by at least 20 people in the crowd, police said.
One victim reported being punched in the head and body by the mob, pistol-whipped with a gun, and kicked in the head and face after falling to the ground, according to police. That victim had a front tooth knocked out and lost consciousness during the assault, and was taken to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill by ambulance for treatment, police said.
The second victim said he was also pistol-whipped on the neck, and his next memory was waking up in the hospital, according to investigators.
Four of the arrested teens charged as adults are still awaiting trial: Exzavier Raysaun Scales, 17; Isaiah Alarcon, 18; Joushten Rodriguez, 18; and Brian Pearsall, 18.
All four face aggravated assault and related charges. Scales, Alarcon and Rodriguez all waived their hearings, sending the charges to Lehigh County court for possible trial.
Pearsall, of Whitehall Township, is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing on March 13.
Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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