Two 12-year-old Barrington girls allegedly lured another girl into an unsupervised home, before taunting her, choking her, slapping her, striking her with a wooden brush and forcing her to strip off her clothes. The two alleged assailants were arraigned in Rhode Island Family Court on Monday morning, April 13, on a series of charges including simple assault and battery, felony assault, kidnapping of a minor, and conspiracy.
The charges stem from a Wednesday, April 8, incident where a 15-year-old girl was allegedly the victim of the two 12-year-olds during a bullying incident unlike any Barrington Police Chief John LaCross has seen in his 13 years as chief.
“If these allegations are true… then it’s the first I’ve ever heard of that a victim was lured into a house on the premise of a sleepover and was attacked, bullied, assaulted and humiliated,” he said. “Some of the allegations have been supported based on the testimony of one of the attackers.”
According to police, the 15-year-old girl and her friend — one of the two 12-year-olds charged — had shared texts earlier in the day and planned a sleepover. There was no school on Thursday because the district scheduled parent-teacher conferences.
At about 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, the 15-year-old girl arrived at the 12-year-old’s home and knocked on the door. But instead of being greeted by her friend, a different 12-year-old girl opened the door.
The unexpected host then allegedly started swearing at the 15-year-old and calling her vulgar names. According to police, the 15-year-old girl went into one of the bathrooms at the home and began texting her friend, asking where she was.
Just a few moments later, the 12-year-old allegedly forced open the bathroom door and continued cursing at the 15-year-old. Police said it was then that the 12-year-old ordered the older girl to take off her clothes and give them to her. The 15-year-old reluctantly obliged, at which point the younger girl reportedly said she was going to burn the clothes.
“She felt intimidated,” said Chief LaCross about the alleged victim. “She was crying …”
According to the police report, when the 15-year-old girl exited the bathroom wearing only a t-shirt and underwear, the 12-year-old attacker continued the verbal assault and then began choking the older girl.
“It got pretty bad,” said the chief.
The alleged victim reportedly broke away from the 12-year-old and locked herself in another room. Police said the 12-year-old girl who had originally planned the sleepover with the 15-year-old eventually showed up and joined with the other 12-year-old in the taunting of the older girl.
The alleged victim asked the other girls for her clothes; eventually the 12-year-olds allowed the 15-year-old to get her items. The older girl then dressed and tried to leave the home, but was allegedly confronted again before she could exit.
Police said the 12-year-olds repeatedly slapped the 15-year-old in the face while calling her names. The 12-year-olds also reportedly smeared makeup on the victim’s face, and police allege that the two 12-year-olds also broke a wooden-handled brush over the older girl’s back and held her hands while she was was trying to get away.
“This went on for between 30 minutes to an hour,” Chief LaCross said. “The victim was eventually able to get out of the house and run home.”
Police said the 15-year-old ran to her house and locked herself in her bedroom.
The victim’s family notified police of the alleged incident, and officers tried to interview the two suspects and their parents. Chief LaCross said one of the suspects and the suspect’s mother were cooperative, while the other family was not. He said the one suspect who was interviewed admitted to some of the allegations, but not all of them.
On Thursday, April 9, police charged the two 12-year-olds with simple assault and battery, felony assault (breaking the wooden-handled brush on the victim’s back), kidnapping of a minor, and conspiracy. Police said the conspiracy charge stems from the 12-year-olds allegedly devising the plan to attack the 15-year-old.
After being charged, the two 12-year-olds were transported to a juvenile training facility and held there until Monday morning when they were arraigned. After being arraigned, the girls were released to their parents.
Chief LaCross said he had never witnessed a bullying situation like this during his time in Barrington.
“I’ve never heard of a bullying situation like this since I’ve been here (in Barrington). I’m not sure what provoked it, what led up to it, but after interviewing the parents and this victim … it’s very serious.”