Criminal complaints have been filed against five teens in a sick ALS “ice bucket challenge” prank that involved a bucket of urine and tobacco spit being dumped on the head of a special needs student in suburban Cleveland this summer, an incident that prosecutors said “humiliated” the boy.
The five teens, between the ages of 14 to 16 years old, face charges in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court from the disturbing Aug. 18 joke in Bay Village, which was captured on video.
"The victim and the five charged juveniles were and are friends and classmates. They regularly associate with one another and, at times, engage in distasteful and sophomoric pranks," said First Assistant County Prosecutor Duane Deskins, who heads the office's Juvenile Division. "However, this incident is clearly different. It crossed a moral and legal line, and even the five alleged perpetrators understand that and have expressed regret."
Three of the teens will be charged with delinquency, assault and disorderly conduct, the prosecutor’s office said, while two others face a single count of disorderly conduct. Their names were not released because they are juveniles.
The victim and his family have been "overwhelmed" — "but it's a good kind of overwhelming" — by the outpouring of support from the community and celebrities, such as comedian Drew Carey, who offered $10,000 to help find the culprits behind the prank.
