I’ve been a teenage boy before and I did some bone-headed things. Maybe not this bad, but still, I agree with the judge in this instance that it would be inappropriate to impose permanent consequences on these kids before their life even gets started because they were stupid, horny, teenage boys.
Completely agree with 100% of this
I’m just saying that I think the answer lies somewhere between “take some classes and promise not to do it again” and “adult prison”. They imposed significant harm to another human being, in a way that’s so significant that we all agreed it should be illegal. Yes, I know that probably wasn’t the intent on their part. But this kind of “oh but I just got horny and just kind of didn’t care / wasn’t focused on what the impact was” is not a thing you wanna teach them there’s some wiggle room with as long as they make sure to apologize about it after.
Community service? Home arrest? Juvenile detention for 21 days? Fuckin something? I’m not saying put them in the hole.