'Slender Man' Suspects Should Be Tried as Kids

Because that's exactly what they are: Mel Robbins
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 5, 2014 1:19 PM CDT
'Slender Man' Suspects Should Be Tried as Kids
Rescue workers take a stabbing victim to the ambulance in Waukesha, Wis., on Saturday.   (AP Photo/Abe Van Dyke)

It was a horrendous, premeditated attack, say prosecutors, which is why they're charging two 12-year-old girls in Wisconsin as adults in the brutal stabbing of a classmate. Bad move, writes Mel Robbins at CNN. "Wisconsin should transfer the case to juvenile court and try them as children, because that's what they are." Keep in mind that the girls were apparently in the thrall of an imaginary Internet character known as Slender Man, and they allegedly tried to kill their friend to appease the fictional monster.

But Wisconsin thinks they should be tried as adults? "You don't have to be a fan of Orange Is the New Black to know in your gut that 60 years in the adult prison system is no place for a little girl who believes that an Internet meme is real and doesn't appear to understand the consequences of her actions," writes Robbins. The 12-year-old brain is still developing, figuring things out. Given their ages and the fact that their victim survived, these girls will be released from custody at some point. Ask yourself: Would adult prison or juvenile rehabilitation better prepare them for that day? Click for Robbins' full column. (Or click to read about the online origins of Slender Man.)

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