Bay Village Police are investigating a group of teens accused of playing a cruel joke on a classmate who has autism. Authorities say the victim is a 14-year-old boy.
The teens allegedly convinced the victim to do the ALS ice bucket challenge, but instead of dumping water and ice on the teen, they chose to fill the bucket with feces, urine, cigarette butts and spit.
“It shouldn’t happen to any child with special needs or not,” said the teen’s father, David Mensen.
The teen’s parents say on Tuesday night, a group of classmates invited their son to one of their houses to do the challenge, while just wearing his underwear.
“He didn’t want to and they said, ‘No, you have to. It’s a challenge.’ They had it all set up,” said the teen’s mother.
The group then posted the video to Instagram. Meanwhile, the teen returned home and said nothing to his parents, until another friend brought it to their attention.
“He was afraid to tell us what happened. He was embarrassed. He was afraid,” said Mensen.
After seeing the video, the victim’s parents reported the incident to police.
On Sept. 4, Bay Village Schools released a statement to students, parents, staff and community members:
Dear Bay Village students, parents, staff and community members:
Many of our students and staff members have been participating in fundraising for ALS through the Ice Bucket Challenge. It hurts us deeply to see such a wonderful effort twisted to deliberately cause someone pain.
We are supporting our Bay Village Police Department as they vigilantly work to complete their investigation in this case.
Flip through the pages below to see photos of the horrendous incident and the large amount of money the stars are offering.
