DJJ Raises the Punishment Over Gulfport Bus Beating

While two of the three 15-year-olds who savagely beat a 13-year-old boy on a school bus in Pinellas County were put on juvenile probation earlier this week, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) raised the punishment on Thursday. The 15-year-olds attacked the 13-year-old due to his informing school officials they were trying to sell him drugs. The beating, which took place in Gulfport, went viral since it was recorded and posted online.

I have personally now had the opportunity to review our department's (DJJ's) recommendation in this matter, and I appreciate our circuit chief probation officer requesting the initial recommendation be re-examined, said DJJ Wansley Walters on Thursday morning. Upon further consideration, we have determined that the highly violent nature of this crime warrants highly structured probation under DJJ supervision, as the state attorney's office recommended. Therefore, we are revising our recommendation, in concert with the recommendation of the state attorney's office. I want to make it clear that DJJ will do everything in its power to ensure youth are held accountable for their actions. Moreover, these youth will receive an array of services to hopefully keep them from ever re-offending.