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http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/020902/09cottage.html
Counselor beaten, set on fire; teen girls arrested
By RICHARD LIEBSON, SHAWN COHEN AND KRISTOFFER A. GARIN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: Feb. 09, 2002)
MOUNT PLEASANT — A counselor at a Mount Pleasant center for troubled teens was in serious condition at the Westchester Medical Center yesterday after surviving a savage attack by eight girls who police said beat her, set her afire and poured chlorine bleach on her face.
"I'm shocked by the viciousness of this,'' Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno said of the assault at the Pleasantville Cottage School. "It's hard to believe that we're dealing with children here.''
Six of the eight girls — two 16-year-olds and four 15-year-olds — were arraigned last night on charges of attempted second-degree murder. The older ones, Takiyah Miller and Lidia Orellana, were sent without bail to the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla. The others, Latoya Barcliff, Mary Brown, Angenika Carter and Nicole Infante, were to be sent to the Woodfield Cottage juvenile detention center.
The girls giggled as they were led to the Mount Pleasant courtroom about 10:40 p.m., wearing orange jumpsuits and some in bright green handcuffs the color of children's jewelry. Once inside the courtroom their mood changed however, with several breaking into tears repeatedly.
"Look at me!" Town Justice Robert Ponzini shouted at Brown at one point, and he repeatedly admonished the others to listen to him during their brief appearances. All were denied bail, but he issued orders of protection to each on behalf of the victim if, he said, "God forbid, you make bail" in the future.
Alagno said the attack began shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday and continued for more than an hour inside Cottage 12, a girls residence at the 1075 Broadway complex run by the Jewish Child Care Association.
During her ordeal, the 32-year-old counselor was punched, kicked, stomped and scratched by the girls before "they doused her with rubbing alcohol and set it on fire,'' Alagno said. "They continued to beat her and then doused her face with chlorine bleach.''
They also cut her hair with scissors, beat her with a telephone and kicked her down two flights of steps, according to the charges read in court last night.
Alagno said the victim — the lone adult at the cottage where 16 girls live — was unable to escape or call for help. She had just begun the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, taking over for two counselors who work during the day.
"She was just overwhelmed by the number of attackers,'' Alagno said, adding that police were trying to learn a motive for the assault.
It was unclear what the eight other residents were doing during the assault, though cottage officials said some of them apparently stood by and did nothing.
"I don't think they did a great deal, frankly, one way or the other," said Michael Spindler, JCCA vice president of residential programs, who lives on campus. "They may have been frightened, but they did not get involved."
The attack ended sometime after midnight, when the girls saw some adults walking toward the cottage and fled, police said. At that point, the counselor managed to run to another cottage for help. She was in severe pain but lucid when a cottage employee drove her to the hospital.
An evening supervisor at the cottage notified Spindler about the incident about 12:40 a.m.
Police said they weren't called until 1:15 a.m., when school employees reported that a number of students were trying to leave the campus. When police arrived, they learned of the assault and took custody of five girls whom school officials had found hiding in other cottages. A sixth was picked up near her Queens home yesterday morning. Two others remained at large.
When the victim spoke with colleagues from her hospital room yesterday, she expressed relief that the girls had been arrested and said she was in pain but resting, cottage officials said. Police and officials said she kept her eyes and mouth closed during the assault and was able to avoid ingesting chemicals or damaging her eyesight.
Richard Altman, chief executive officer of the JCCA, called the attack "a gross violation of the community norm at Pleasantville Cottage School. It is so far out of bounds that we believe the girls involved in the assault have to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.''
The victim, who has been on staff since 1996, has worked in Cottage 12 for a few years. Spindler said she has been a good employee and, as far as he knew, had a warm relationship with the girls.
While not offering any excuses for their actions, Denis Gufarotti, resident director, noted that the girls were assigned to the cottage because they have emotional problems.
"These are kids who have tragic backgrounds, kids who have been abused and whose families have struggled themselves," he said.
The center provides special assistance, including counseling, to 195 children, a third of them girls. While the residents have behavioral problems, they haven't been in trouble with the law before. Most are referred to the cottage school by social agencies. The center does not take children through the courts.
Crisis counselors were assigned to speak with campus residents yesterday.
School officials said they were reviewing campus security procedures. Residential cottages are staffed by one counselor overnight and two during the day. Counselors are not equipped with panic alarms to alert campus security or police in an emergency, though telephones and fire alarms are installed at each cottage. Students live on campus, but are not locked inside.
"Spontaneously, we're not going to go in and change anything," Spindler said. "If changes are needed, they will be made."
In 1994, a 13-year-old boy from Peekskill who lived at the Pleasantville Cottage School was charged with killing a 12-year-old resident. Brian Edwards is believed to be the youngest person ever charged with murder in Westchester County.
Counselor beaten, set on fire; teen girls arrested
By RICHARD LIEBSON, SHAWN COHEN AND KRISTOFFER A. GARIN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: Feb. 09, 2002)
MOUNT PLEASANT — A counselor at a Mount Pleasant center for troubled teens was in serious condition at the Westchester Medical Center yesterday after surviving a savage attack by eight girls who police said beat her, set her afire and poured chlorine bleach on her face.
"I'm shocked by the viciousness of this,'' Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno said of the assault at the Pleasantville Cottage School. "It's hard to believe that we're dealing with children here.''
Six of the eight girls — two 16-year-olds and four 15-year-olds — were arraigned last night on charges of attempted second-degree murder. The older ones, Takiyah Miller and Lidia Orellana, were sent without bail to the Westchester County Jail in Valhalla. The others, Latoya Barcliff, Mary Brown, Angenika Carter and Nicole Infante, were to be sent to the Woodfield Cottage juvenile detention center.
The girls giggled as they were led to the Mount Pleasant courtroom about 10:40 p.m., wearing orange jumpsuits and some in bright green handcuffs the color of children's jewelry. Once inside the courtroom their mood changed however, with several breaking into tears repeatedly.
"Look at me!" Town Justice Robert Ponzini shouted at Brown at one point, and he repeatedly admonished the others to listen to him during their brief appearances. All were denied bail, but he issued orders of protection to each on behalf of the victim if, he said, "God forbid, you make bail" in the future.
Alagno said the attack began shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday and continued for more than an hour inside Cottage 12, a girls residence at the 1075 Broadway complex run by the Jewish Child Care Association.
During her ordeal, the 32-year-old counselor was punched, kicked, stomped and scratched by the girls before "they doused her with rubbing alcohol and set it on fire,'' Alagno said. "They continued to beat her and then doused her face with chlorine bleach.''
They also cut her hair with scissors, beat her with a telephone and kicked her down two flights of steps, according to the charges read in court last night.
Alagno said the victim — the lone adult at the cottage where 16 girls live — was unable to escape or call for help. She had just begun the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, taking over for two counselors who work during the day.
"She was just overwhelmed by the number of attackers,'' Alagno said, adding that police were trying to learn a motive for the assault.
It was unclear what the eight other residents were doing during the assault, though cottage officials said some of them apparently stood by and did nothing.
"I don't think they did a great deal, frankly, one way or the other," said Michael Spindler, JCCA vice president of residential programs, who lives on campus. "They may have been frightened, but they did not get involved."
The attack ended sometime after midnight, when the girls saw some adults walking toward the cottage and fled, police said. At that point, the counselor managed to run to another cottage for help. She was in severe pain but lucid when a cottage employee drove her to the hospital.
An evening supervisor at the cottage notified Spindler about the incident about 12:40 a.m.
Police said they weren't called until 1:15 a.m., when school employees reported that a number of students were trying to leave the campus. When police arrived, they learned of the assault and took custody of five girls whom school officials had found hiding in other cottages. A sixth was picked up near her Queens home yesterday morning. Two others remained at large.
When the victim spoke with colleagues from her hospital room yesterday, she expressed relief that the girls had been arrested and said she was in pain but resting, cottage officials said. Police and officials said she kept her eyes and mouth closed during the assault and was able to avoid ingesting chemicals or damaging her eyesight.
Richard Altman, chief executive officer of the JCCA, called the attack "a gross violation of the community norm at Pleasantville Cottage School. It is so far out of bounds that we believe the girls involved in the assault have to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.''
The victim, who has been on staff since 1996, has worked in Cottage 12 for a few years. Spindler said she has been a good employee and, as far as he knew, had a warm relationship with the girls.
While not offering any excuses for their actions, Denis Gufarotti, resident director, noted that the girls were assigned to the cottage because they have emotional problems.
"These are kids who have tragic backgrounds, kids who have been abused and whose families have struggled themselves," he said.
The center provides special assistance, including counseling, to 195 children, a third of them girls. While the residents have behavioral problems, they haven't been in trouble with the law before. Most are referred to the cottage school by social agencies. The center does not take children through the courts.
Crisis counselors were assigned to speak with campus residents yesterday.
School officials said they were reviewing campus security procedures. Residential cottages are staffed by one counselor overnight and two during the day. Counselors are not equipped with panic alarms to alert campus security or police in an emergency, though telephones and fire alarms are installed at each cottage. Students live on campus, but are not locked inside.
"Spontaneously, we're not going to go in and change anything," Spindler said. "If changes are needed, they will be made."
In 1994, a 13-year-old boy from Peekskill who lived at the Pleasantville Cottage School was charged with killing a 12-year-old resident. Brian Edwards is believed to be the youngest person ever charged with murder in Westchester County.
