REBECCA SEDWICK - 12 yo/ Suspects: 2 Unnamed girls, 12 & 14 yo - Polk County FL

Two girls arrested in connection to 12-year-old Polk Co. girl's suicide
Rebecca Sedwick jumped from cement mixing tower

UPDATED 11:44 AM EDT Oct 15, 2013

POLK COUNTY, Fla. —The Polk County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday morning it had made two arrests in connection to the death of 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick.

wo girls, ages 12 and 14, have been charged with aggravated stalking.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said a social media post by the 14-year-old suspect at 1 a.m. Saturday led to the arrests.

Judd says suspect posted on Facebook: Yes I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself but I don't give a (expletive).

"We can't leave her out there. Who else is she going to torment? Who else is she going to harass?" Judd said of the suspect.

According to Judd, the bullying started after a physical confrontation between the suspect and Sedwick over a boy. The boy was Sedwicks's former boyfriend and the suspect's current boyfriend.

"She ultimately began to torment Rebecca," Judd says.

Another suspect, a 12-year-old girl, who Judd said was Sedwick's former best friend, was also arrested.

Sedwick's body was found at a defunct cement plant not far from her house.

Officials said that Sedwick jumped to her death from a cement silo that had three levels.

Sedwick received counseling and eventually left school, but then was cyberbullied with hateful messages, Judd said.

The sheriff said before her death, Sedwick used social media to reach out to a friend.

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'Yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself,' suspect in Florida cyberbully suicide said online
Two girls are charged with felony aggravated stalking in connection with Rebecca's suicide

By Jerriann Sullivan, Orlando Sentinel
11:42 a.m. EDT, October 15, 2013

The Polk County Sheriff's Office has arrested two girls in the Rebecca Ann Sedwick cyberbully suicide, authorities said today.

The girls, ages 12 and 14, were charged with aggravated stalking after investigators conducted numerous interviews following Rebecca's fatal jump Sept. 10.

The girls repeatedly and maliciously harassed Rebecca while all three attended Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland.

"Several students corroborated stories of both girls bullying Sedwick on different occasions, through name-calling, intimidation, threats to beat her up, and at least one actual physical fight,'' the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The girls were arrested Monday night and detained at the county's juvenile assessment center. Then they were released to their parents.

One of the girls wrote on social media,: "Yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself and I don't give a [expletive]."

The Orlando Sentinel is not naming the suspects because of their ages.

Rebecca jumped to her death from a tower at an old cement business less than one mile from her home.

The bullying started after a boy who used to date one of the suspects started dating Rebecca.

The ex-girlfriend had several arguments with Rebecca via Facebook, as well as verbal confrontations at school.

Witnesses told investigators that the ex-girlfriend sent messages to Rebecca, calling her ugly, telling her to drink bleach and die, and telling Rebecca that should kill herself.

Rebecca was jumped in school and later bombarded with such hateful messages via a cellphone application as "You're ugly," "Why are you still alive?" and "Go kill yourself."

The other girl used to be Rebecca's friend. But the ex-girlfriend turned that girl against Rebecca.

Rebecca changed schools to avoid her bullies but deputies said the abuse continued on her cellphone.

She was held temporarily under the state's Baker Act at a hospital after her mother noticed cuts on Rebecca's wrists in December.

Her mother decided to home-school her daughter and eventually Rebecca transferred to Lawton Chiles Middle Academy, but detectives found evidence that the bullying didn't stop.

The morning Rebecca took her life, she posted a message to a 12-year-old North Carolina boy whom she reportedly met once at the airport: "I'm jumping and I can't take it anymore," the text read.

The boy did not tell anyone his friend was suicidal.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced the arrests Tuesday at a news conference in Winter Haven.

"As I child I can remember my mother telling me 'sticks a stone can break your bones but words can never hurt you,'" Judd said. "Today, words stick, because they're printed and words are hurtful. They are as hurtful - and sometimes more hurtful - than sticks and stones. Ask Rebecca's family."

"As I child I can remember my mother telling me 'sticks a stone can break your bones but words can never hurt you,'" Judd said. "Today, words stick, because they're printed and words are hurtful. They are as hurtful - and sometimes more hurtful - than sticks and stones. Ask Rebecca's family."

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-rebecca-sedwick-cyber-bully-arrests-20131015,0,6659095.story

Rebecca Sedwick Update: Mother of girl accused of bullying 12-year-old who committed suicide is arrested on unrelated charges, police say

October 18, 2013 4:32 PM

(CBS) WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The mother of one of the girls accused of bullying Rebecca Sedwick - a 12-year-old Florida girl who committed suicide - has also been arrested, the Polk County Sheriff's Office has confirmed.

Authorities arrested 30-year-old Vivian Vosburg and charged her with two counts of child abuse with bodily harm and four counts of child neglect.

The Sheriff's Office confirmed the charges are not related to the October 14 arrest of Vosburg's 14-year-old daughter in the Sedwick case.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is scheduled to hold a news conference on the arrest at 5:30 p.m. EST.

On Sept. 9, authorities say, Rebecca climbed a tower at an abandoned concrete plant and hurled herself to her death.

Authorities have said Rebecca was "terrorized" by as many as 15 girls who ganged up on her and picked on her for months through online message boards and texts.

Two girls, ages 12 and 14, were arrested Monday in connection with the case and charged with felony aggravated stalking, police have said. Judd said investigators made the arrests after the 14-year-old made an incriminating comment on social media over the weekend.

"She made a comment in reference to, 'Yeah I bullied Rebecca, and yeah she's dead, but I don't give a blank,'" Judd told CBS News. "I met with the detectives and supervisors... and said, 'She needs to go to jail. We need to arrest her.'"

Judd told CBS News that what these two girls' did to Sedwick was criminal because "they terrorized her."

"They did things like, 'You should die, you should drink bleach and die," said Judd. "You see a pattern of harassment, a pattern of intimidation and that's what they did. They intimidated this girl. They harassed her. She had no peace."

According to the New York Times, Judd was particularly displeased with the behavior of the 14-year-old's parents who reportedly did not take the girl's phone away after she was questioned in the case.

"Parents, who instead of taking that device and smashing it into a thousand pieces in front of that child, say her account was hacked," Judd told the Times.

Following the girls' arrests, Judd said he had not ruled out charging the young suspects' parents.

"It only can happen when parents don't parent their children," he said. "You need to know what they're talking about online. You need to know who their friends are. You need to know if they're bullying people at school."

Court papers allege the 14-year-old began harassing Sedwick over a boy both girls had dated. The affidavits filed by a police investigator also indicate the younger girl and Sedwick were once close friends, but that the 14-year-old may have convinced the younger girl to turn on Sedwick, even getting her to beat up her former best friend.

The two young suspects are now under house arrest. If they are convicted, the sheriff says they are unlikely to face jail time because this is their first offense.

Investigators believe as many as 15 girls were involved in the campaign of harassment against Sedwick.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57608244-504083/rebecca-sedwick-update-mother-of-girl-accused-of-bullying-12-year-old-who-committed-suicide-is-arrested-on-unrelated-charges-police-say/

Jose Baez enters bullying case

By Jerriann Sullivan, Orlando Sentinel
11:09 a.m. EDT, October 23, 2013

Jose Baez, the Florida lawyer who became a household name after defending Casey Anthony, is now representing the 12-year-old girl accused of bullying Rebecca Ann Sedwick for over a year before her suicide.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd last week announced the arrests of two girls, ages 12 and 14, on aggravated stalking charges after the girls allegedly tormented Rebecca both in school and online.

Rebecca jumped to her death from a tower at an abandoned cement factory near her home on Sept. 10.

The Sentinel is not naming the girls because of their ages.

The 12-year-old told deputies she used to be Rebecca's friend but the 14-year-old turned her against Rebecca. The 14-year-old instigated the bullying after she started dating Rebecca's ex-boyfriend, Judd said.

Rebecca's mother, Tricia Norman, has retained attorney David Henry, the managing partner at Morgan & Morgan's Winter Haven office, the firm announced this week.

"It used to be a parent could be relatively assured that their kids were safe in their room, but that's no longer the case. A computer in a child's bedroom is their porthole to the outside world," Henry is quoted as saying in the statement. "Cyberbullying has become a pervasive problem among our children and it needs to stop."

Baez was not available for comment Wednesday. He met with the family of the accused tormentor last night and is reviewing the case today.

According to Judd, the girls "repeatedly and maliciously" harassed Rebecca while all three attended Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland forcing Rebecca to switch schools.

The harassment continued as the girls continued to send hateful messages to Rebecca on her smartphone through text messages and social media.

"Yes ik (I know) I bullied Rebecca nd she killed her self but IDGAF" (I don't give a (expletive)),'' the 14-year-old girl wrote on Facebook, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Worried the 14-year-old girl would torment other children, the Sheriff's Office arrested the girl after she made the above comment on social media.

The girls admitted to the abuse after their arrests, Judd said.

The mother of the 14-year-old suspect was arrested last week after a video surfaced on Facebook showing her in a fight with unidentified juveniles, records show.

Judd said she admitted to punching one of the juveniles in the face with a fist and punching the second juvenile several times on the back of the head and between his shoulders.

It is unclear if the family of the 14-year-old has hired a lawyer.

The case has drawn international attention to the issue of cyber bulling and the responsibility of parents to monitor the online behavior of their children.

Baez has offices in Orlando and Miami, according to his website.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-rebecca-sedwick-bully-jose-baez-20131023,0,6984528.story

Lawyer: Accused Tween Cyber Bully Won't Be Bullied by Court

2:35AM Monday
October 28, 2013

(MIAMI) -- The lawyer for a 12-year-old Florida girl accused of helping to bully classmate Rebecca Sedwick into suicide told a court Friday that he was not going to allow his client to now be bullied by the judicial system.

"This girl deserves more than having her face plastered across the country and being blamed, directly blamed for the death of one of her friends…I'm not going to let her be bullied," said Jose Baez whose client is 12 and is facing aggravated felony stalking charges in Sedwick's death.

"This is a tragic, tragic story…and when you're dealing with an emotionally vulnerable 12-year-old girl these things need to be handled with kid gloves. ...She feels absolutely horrible for what happened to Rebecca," said Baez.

The girl's identity is being withheld by ABC News.

Baez, who previously represented Casey Anthony in her trial for the death of her daughter, urged the public not to lump his client in with Guadalupe Shaw, the 14-year-old girl who faces similar felony charges in Sedwick's death. Shaw, whose mother has gone public with her daughter's identity, did not appear at Friday's hearing.

Both girls were arrested last week after the Polk County Sheriff's office said they "terrorized" Sedwick, 12, taunted her relentlessly online and at school, and then showed a lack of remorse when she climbed a silo tower at an abandoned plant and jumped to her death Sept. 9.

After the suicide, Shaw allegedly had a Facebook post that read "Yes, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself but I don't give a F---"

Baez appeared with the nervous looking 12-year-old and her parents briefly in court Friday and argued that the limits of her home detention should be loosened up including computer access so that she can resume some school work.

The girl was given permission to attend church and go into her yard for fresh air. Circuit Judge Michael McCarthy said the young girl, who is currently suspended from school, may be able to use a computer for educational purposes only.

Shaw's attorney Andrea DeMichael entered a not guilty plea on her behalf Thursday and said they plan on reviewing all of the "discovery" evidence before determining where they take this case next. Both Shaw and the 12-year-old are expected to appear in court next Tuesday morning.

Last week Shaw's mother, Vivian Vosburg, 30, was arrested on unrelated charges. The publicity about her daughters arrest triggered tips to police about a video on Facebook showing Vosburg beating several of her children and she was charged with child abuse and neglect.

Thursday, Tricia Norman -- the mother of Rebecca Sedwick, flanked by her attorneys announced that she was exploring all legal options to get "justice" for her daughter's death.

Those possible legal options include suing the parents of the two suspects, the school board, and possibly the construction site where Sedwick took her life.

A website established by her mother and attorneys to help raise money for the teen's funeral costs and for future anti-bullying causes in one day achieved and surpassed its fundraising goal of $5,400.

http://www.630wpro.com/common/more.php?m=58&ts=1382844903&article=292122F43DA411E3B51EFEFDADE6840A&mode=2

Charges in Rebecca Sedwick's suicide suggest 'tipping point' in bullying cases

Monday, October 28, 2013 - 8:55am

CNN — (CNN) -- The Florida cyberbullying case in which two girls, ages 14 and 12, face felony stalking charges after the suicide of 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick could lead other law agencies to file similar felony charges against adolescent bullies, experts said.

Authorities often place juveniles accused of cyberabuse under parental or school supervision; or, if the youths are charged, they face lesser offenses such as hacking or identity theft, experts said.

But the Florida case sets itself apart nationally for several reasons: It involves felonies in the suicide of a child so young, the defendants are also very young classmates, and the 14-year-old defendant's mother now faces a child abuse charge in a separate case, experts said.

"A lot of traditional law enforcement officers are looking at this and saying somebody has to do something, and when parents don't stand up to the plate, we have to," said Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy and security attorney in New York, who also is executive director of stopcyberbullying.org.

"Everybody will be following this closely," said Justin W. Patchin, a co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a criminal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. "We've had other attempts (at felony charges in cyberbullying-related suicides), but nothing has been successful at the felony level that I'm aware of, especially when dealing with kids this young.

The case could give victims hope that stalkers or cyberbullies will face long-term accountability, he said.

"Many people may be reluctant to file charges because they don't see they will get a conviction, so it will help law enforcement and prosecutors in other jurisdictions on whether it is possible to get a conviction in a criminal case -- even a felony case," Patchin said.

One activist, whose son committed suicide after cyberbullying, said the case in Polk County, Florida, could mark a new, tougher level of law enforcement.

"We have finally reached a tipping point where adults are taking this seriously and where law enforcement in the past has shirked its responsibility in the area of exercising and enforcing the laws," said Debbie Johnston, who in 2008 helped usher in one of the nation's toughest anti-bullying laws in Florida with the passage of the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up For All Students Act, named in honor of her 15-year-old son.

"Law enforcement needs to enforce the laws that are on the books and stop turning a blind eye simply because these are children," she said.

Read more:  http://www.ketknbc.com/news/charges-in-rebecca-sedwicks-suicide-suggest-tippin