I was watching MTV's Greatest High School Pranks...one kid made 600 copies of his school's master key (fined $1500), another cancelled school (bring mom to school or be expelled), another stole a rival's mascot (never caught). Then I saw the jackpot prank in the Chronicle. Man suburban kids don't know how to prank! A kid at Forest Brook flooded his school for a whopping damage total of $1 million. Daaaaaaaamn!!! --- Aug. 9, 2007, 8:49AM Accused vandal's mom asks community to forgive teen Youth charged with high school damage released after posting bail By ALLAN TURNER and DALE LEZON Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle The mother of a teenage boy accused of vandalizing Forest Brook High School and causing about $1 million in damage apologized for her son's behavior Wednesday and asked the community for forgiveness. "I'm sorry for what my son has done," Diana Demouchet said. "I wish I could put in y'all's heart to forgive him and give him a second chance." She surrendered her sons, Demond Demouchet and his 16-year-old brother, who is a juvenile, to North Forest school district police on Monday after learning they were wanted in connection with the late July incident, in which the school's fire hoses were used to flood the campus. Ongoing repairs at the school will force students to attend rival Smiley High for part of the fall semester. Charged with criminal mischief in which damage exceeded $200,000, Demond Demouchet could be sentenced to as long as life in prison if convicted. The vandalism charge marks the first time Demond Demouchet has been in trouble with the law, assistant District Attorney Gary Miller said, and the teen also could be eligible for probation. Brother being held State District Judge Denise Collins lowered Demond Demouchet's initial $999,999 bail to $50,000, and the youth was released from jail Wednesday night. His next court date is Aug. 31. Quanell X, a community activist, said the younger boy was in jail. At the time of the school vandalism, Quanell X said, he had been on probation for unrelated previous criminal activity. The teens apparently broke into the school early in the morning July 17 and opened fire hoses, officials said. Water flooded the building for about six hours. The first and second floors of the building, which contained classrooms and the school library, were heavily damaged. A security camera captured the brothers' images. Officials think repairs could be completed by November, said district spokeswoman Nakisha Myles. Demond Demouchet was scheduled to depart for Tyler next week to enroll at Texas College, a four-year private institution. Although he was being considered for a baseball scholarship, coach Freddy Gonzalez said the financial support had not formally been offered. Gonzalez said Demond Demouchet's academic record precluded him playing baseball in the fall semester, although he would have been allowed to practice with the team. Given the teen's legal problems, Gonzalez said he is uncertain if Demouchet will be allowed to work out. "I would love for him to come to the school and get over this bump in his life," the coach said. Described as quiet type Diana Demouchet said her older son was tearful as he was taken into custody, and kept saying, "Mama, I'm sorry I disappointed you." The teens' aunt, Tanya Stevenson, said the older boy was quiet almost to the point of introversion. "You could be in the house with him and not even know he was there," she said. She described him as a hard-working youth, who helped his grandfather mow lawns. Stevenson said Demond Demouchet was looking forward to getting home. "He's scared," she said. "He's never been in trouble." allan.turner@chron.com , dale.lezon@chron.com http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5039171.html
wtf...LIFE in prison? for that? bs! A kid plays a prank and he could get life. A child molester gets like 8 years!
life is too much but man a million dollars? That kid or his parents need to be on the hook for at least a portion of that. I don't see anything wrong with mom paying 50K over a long period of time as well as the kid having to pay 50K also. People should not get off Scott free.
i assume the life in prison part is max punishment, but you know that a kid wont get that. still, scare the hell out of him with it...that should help him learn his lesson.
I wonder if the $1 million includes the complications of closing the school and sending FB students to Smiley. Good luck keeping the peace.
I grew up with the guy that is in college that did the prank, Demond. He was always crazy, but I don't know WTH he was thinking when he did this one. His grandparents live in the house exactly across the street from mine and there were media SUVs and vans in our yard waiting for them to comment. My family warned me before I came home to go do something else until they left. Lol. But anyway, Demond should be forgiven. Maybe it's cause we were friends for as long as we were, but he shouldn't have jailtime. Some sort of heavy punishment is in order to send a message to others that may be thinking of doing the same thing, but jailtime is unnecessary. p.s. His aunt used to always, and I mean ALWAYS, chew him out for no reason when he was little. It's somewhat surprising to see her sticking up for him now. Heh
