WOODSTOCK, Ill. One of two teen girls arrested after distributing fliers officials said contained hateful statements about gays apologized on Aug. 15, calling the incident a prank gone awry.
“I’m very sorry,” the 17-year-old told a McHenry County judge who sentenced her to a year of probation on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. “It was basically a joke. We took it too far.”
Prosecutors had dropped felony hate-crime charges against both teens after they pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charges.
The girl sentenced Aug. 15 also was ordered to write a letter of apology to a male classmate whose photo was on the fliers and received a 14-day suspended jail term, which she won’t have to serve unless she violates the terms of her probation.
The second girl is to be sentenced next month, the Chicago Tribune and (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported. The girls are not being named because they have been charged as juveniles.
Police arrested the girls May 11 after they were caught handing out fliers in the parking lot of Crystal Lake South High School that contained a homophobic slur and depicted a male classmate kissing another boy. The girls fled from police when they were approached, authorities said.
The classmate was a longtime acquaintance of the girls with whom they had had a recent falling out, authorities said.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 24, 2007