White teenager who pleaded guilty to trying to drown Black teen sentenced to probation
He was also ordered to write a letter of apology to the teenager he admitted to attacking, perform 720 hours of community service, and complete educational programming selected by the court's probation department, Galibois said by email.
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The sentence was a joint recommendation by prosecutors and defense attorney Kevin J. Reddington, Galibois said.
'The victim — and his mother — were advised of the joint recommendation and were in agreement with it,' Galibois said.
Gailbois said that during the sentencing hearing, the judge made the 'observation that politics did not play a role in this case. Additionally, we agree with the Court's determination that this matter was not horseplay but a criminal act.'
Reddington was in court on another case and was not immediately available for comment Thursday.
While most juvenile defendants aren't publicly named, prosecutors charged Sheeran as a youthful offender, meaning the proceedings are public and similar to the adult court system.
The charges stemmed from a July 19, 2023, incident at Goose Pond, involving Sheeran, then 14, another boy, and the Black teenager. Authorities did not release the names and ages of the two other boys.
The Black teenager told police that a friend had invited him to the pond. He arrived on a bicycle, which he told Sheeran and the other boy not to touch because he had borrowed it from his older brother. They began throwing rocks at him, police said.
The Black teenager said he put on a lifejacket because he cannot swim and went into the water as Sheeran continued to throw stones at him, threatened to beat him up, and called him a racial slur, police said.
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A few minutes later, Sheeran swam to the Black teenager and pulled him underwater by his lifejacket, forcing him under the surface four to five times, police said.
The Black teenager said he yelled at Sheeran to stop because he couldn't breathe and tried to get away from him, while the other boy laughed and called him George Floyd, police said. The murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020
The Black teenager said Sheeran left him alone for about 15 minutes before he returned on a raft with the other boy. Sheeran then swam beneath the Black teenager and grabbed his feet as the other boy laughed from the raft, police said.
The Black teenager yelled for help and a bystander on the beach swam out to him and yelled for Sheeran to stop, which he did, police said.
Once he was back on shore, the Black teenager packed up his belongings and left. The attack was reported to police two days later.
Sheeran's sentence was
Information from earlier Globe reporting was used in this account.
John R. Ellement can be reached at
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