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Butt-Slapping gets Boys in Trouble
Wednesday, July 25, 2007 at 4:46AM 
Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, two 13-year-old boys ran down the hallway of Patton Middle School after lunch, slapping as many girl's butts as they could get their hands on along the way. A teacher's aid caught them and sent them to the office. The vice principal, Steve Tillery, and a police officer, Marshall Roache, stationed at the school, questioned the boys and some of the girls involved in the incident. Apparently convinced that a crime had been committed, the officer read the boys their Miranda rights and hauled them off in handcuffs to juvenile jail, where they spent the next five days. Now, Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, face the prospect of 10 years in juvenile detention and a lifetime on the sex offender registry. Read the Original Charges here. The charges against both Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison were later amended and the felony charges against Cory were dropped.
Bradley Berry, the McMinnville district attorney, said his office "aggressively" pursues sex crimes that involve children. "These cases are devastating to children," he said. "They are life-altering cases."
"The disproportionality of the charges is absurd," said Phillip Esplin, a forensic psychologist who has researched child sex abuse for the National Institutes of Health.
"My question is, why this would constitute a sexual offense, as opposed to something inappropriate that should have been dealt with within the school -- not within the criminal justice system."
To Rhonda Pope, mother of Christian Richter, 13, a girl named in the court papers as one of the victims, the charges are justified.
"Slapping somebody on the butt is sexual harassment, and it is a crime," she said. "Considering what was going on and that my daughter was offended, it is a crime. And it's not OK."
Insisting that the charges are an overreaction, Mashburn's attorney, Mark Lawrence, has worked to bring as much public attention as possible to the story. Lawrence, himself a former Yamhill County prosecutor, and his client briefly appeared on commentator Bill O'Reilly's cable TV show.
"I look at this from a prosecutor's perspective and a defense attorney's perspective, and believe this is truly insane. I do not condone this behavior -- it was inappropriate. But it is not criminal."
Marshall Roache, the police officer, after conducting a follow up interview with many of the girls was told that it was "slap butt day" and many of them were involved in the same behavior including one girl who described it as "a handshake we do." Two of the alleged victims said they had swatted boys' buttocks themselves. No one claimed to be offended by the horseplay. At this point the two boys were still locked up.
The next day the juvenile court held a hearing on whether the boys should be released. The courtroom was packed with Patton students and families of both boys -- many were crying. The boys were there, too, in shackles and jail outfits. Two of the alleged victims spontaneously offered to testify on behalf of the boys. Under oath, they told the judge they were friends and did not feel threatened by them. The two girls also testified they felt compelled, during the initial interviews with Tillery and Roache, to say things that weren't true. Read a copy of the court transcript here.
"Well, when the (vice) principal asked me stuff, I kind of felt pressured to answer stuff that I was uncomfortable, and that it hurt, but it really didn't," the girl said, explaining that she didn't think anything sexual went on.
The boys were released. But the judge ordered them out of school, required constant parental supervision and barred them from contacting friends. Any deviation, he said, would result in more time in juvenile jail. The boys and their parents were interviewed about the experience. Watch the Video Clip Here
The only "victims" in this entire incident were the two boys and their families. Because of their horseplay, two boys have been thrown in jail for days, enduring what must have been a nightmare for both of them. Now their parents are suffering under the expense of having to hire lawyers to defend their children. Both boys are under house arrest and are not able to return to school. They are facing some very serious charges that could land them in jail for a very long time. And in addition they may have to register as sex offenders and be included in that registry for the rest of their lives. All this over an incident in which no one claims to be a victim and no one is afraid of these two 13-year-olds, who were just having some fun with their friends during the lunch break at school. When will some sanity return to the "adults" who try to make young sexual predators out of boys just having fun??? Can someone tell them to BUTT out and let kids be kids!!!
Reader Comments (102)
ABSURD!!
Was what they did wrong? Yes. Do they deserve to pay for it the rest of their lives as being registered sex offenders? No. A fine and some time in detention should be suffice
I cannot believe this normal 'stuff' kids do, could make these boys registered sex offenders for LIFE. Someone is getting paid way tooo much $ if this is the 'most' important crimes they have to prosecute. Listen UP .... GET A LIFE !!! Or, better yet, go look for people that go home after a long day at a real job, and kick their dog, or their wife and kids.... these are real crimes ....
I think the legal system is going overboard. This is so ridiculous there are not words for it. Not so many years(well maybe a few:o) ) we were kids ourselves. There are ways that kids "test the waters" with the opposite sex.If we make fairly innocent actions into criminal behavior we are making more criminals. Send them to the principle's office for a good talking too and then give them detention for a couple weeks. If this went on when I was in school, over half the kids would be in prison! Let's get real here--I'm sure some of this is motivated by a suing mentality. You know, Let's sue because Susie didn't like to be touched and that nasty boy spanked her. That's nuts. Make the punishment fit the crime, also the age range. If he was an adult walking down the street slapping strange women on the rear, he might get some counseling for weird behavior. These kids are merely trying to grow up. Don't criminalize "growing up" behavior. Call it one of life's lessons.
Professional athletes do it all the time
Yes, it is wrong! To invade someone's bodily space without their permission, is wrong.. Disrespect for a woman starts out innocently, ie: slappin a girl on their butt. Men beat their wives and kick their dogs because they can and many have no respect for a woman or a dog as important. If the kid slapped my butt I would have hit him back and not for the fun of it. KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF! That's were they belong not fondling a woman for the fun of it. You've got to be kidding.
This is abuse of process/ It is also a failure of the school system to advise students as to what constitutes unacceptable behavior. If there was a "butt slap day" and lots of kids were doing it, then were was the principal and where were the guidance teachers and where were the teachers themselves. Don't adults stand in the halls during change of classes, don't adults supervise the cafeteria?
I believe that we need to be more focus on the sex offenders that are repeating crimes on children over and over again, and not children who behave inappropriately. Let parents be parents, the laws are meant for serious offenders, not children who need to learn boundaries. I am so sick of hearing how a pedophiles get out of prison only to repeat his offense on another child, while the systems keeps putting our young men in prison, sentencing them to probation, or forcing them to enter a plead when it's really the parents who need to teach their children how to behave. Simple is just simple and stupid is just stupid and this case is just stupid.
BULL CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!
*My P.E. Teacher
*Basketball Coach
*Football coaches
*Football team
*Im Varsity Football Manager and they Slap Butts and say good job go gettem
*The girls and guys in our grade mess around and do it to
*Our teachers would be f#$@% off at you because we wouldnt have any kids in our school
Boy if i was your mom id be ashamed of you
thats the best crime you have why waste time on a playful gag
when you can be prosecuting a guy thats murdsering,robbing and stelling
Am i wrong if so someone e-mail me at
BullriderwanttaB@aol.com
this is crazy and being blown out of control. the boys should have been given a punishment from school officals not the police. what is happening to our schools? the boys in my school did this to girls all the time when i was growing up and none of them went to jail maybe sent to the principals office and a day in school dention. they are just experiencing growing up and sexuality someone should have just given them some counseling and told them that's not the way to approach someone they like and teach them about growing up and explain to them what sex really is come on their hormones are raging and they think it's cool to hit the girls on their butts and some of the girls might like it because they may think he likes her who knows what kids think now days but they don't understand so we as parents and adults have to help them. i think it was just playful and no one should go to jail.
I can't believe that "officials" are so ready to destroy a couple of young boys lives. As usual, people forget to make allowances. This "no tolerance laws" are crazy. People don't want to take time to think. The boys need repremanded and then to get on with their lives!
Boy, you guys really have problems in the Ol' USA if kids smacking each other on the butt is a criminal offence. Unfortunately, a lot of what you guys do eventually reaches 'God's Country' down here in Australia, so I'd better be prepared. I can't believe that butt whacking is a crime, but carrying around a magnum or semi auto hand gun or rifle isn't. Do you guys think that maybe you have your priorities wrong? Never heard of a school massacre where the kids were smacked to death. Thank God for the 'Land Downunder'.
Frank.
This whole thing is absolutely ridiculous! Kids do things that are inappropriate because they are learning right from wrong. When I was in school there was the same kind of things going on and nobody ever got arrested for it. They were punished in school and by their parents. This is no different than the elementary school student that got expelled for kissing a girl. These people are supposed to teach our kids, not blame them and arrest them for such a small offence. What happened to common sense?
No one should be touched by another without permission. Normally a girl would slap a boy in the face for such an act. If that would not cure the problem a boyfriend should take action. If no boyfriend then the father should cure the problem ; if no father then the law needs to solve the situation.....
Exactly when is it wrong to touch someone else inproperly? When you are 18 or 21 or 58? Is this the message we want to send? It is not okay to touch some else at any age. Should we wait until children are 18 or 21 or 58 to teach them this? And if not their parents then who should teach them this?
Yah, condemning them for life as sex abuser is surely excessive but an appropriate punishment should be ordered just to make them realize that they've been wrong and give example to other teenagers.
This is just another act of the government going overboard. the time to learn what is appropriate and what is not is during your youth. i am not approveing thier action in the least. In fact I believe that they sould be Punished by both their parents and the school.
It is hard to believe that the parents have lost the right to give a child a good spanking and replaced it with the government giving out the punishment. I believe that if these boys go to jail or get parole their is a chance that may parents will label them as "bad kids" and will then have to find a group of different freind that may be much less law abiding then his current.
i'm wondering what the statute of limitations is on such a crime. i'd like to file charges against Tony B. for pulling my pigtails in 5th grade (in 1955). am i too late?
We're getting a little draconian and there will be a price to pay. People need to wake up, you don't need the long arm of the law for every incident in your life. They truly don't care about your well being, if so things of this nature would never come to this magnitude in the press. Personally I'm appalled at the inability of people to handle their petty and individual day to day consequences of life without yelling for the law. You like Totalitarianism, it will be here soon. These trivial discords are what teachers and school staff are supposed to handle. In my time this would have been seen as a silly act of youth, today we over analyze and tear one another apart for simple misjudgements. In this case the supposed victim wasn't even offended let alone harmed and isn't that what the law was intended to do, give recourse for a harm done, not might, possibly or could have. Wake up folks.
WOW...what happened to parents teaching their children appropriate behavior? Has the school system lost all control over the children in their schools?
What these boys did was inappropriate, but wouldn't it serve the boys and the families involved better to give them a "lesson" in sexual harassment. Maybe one of the classes that corporate America uses to teach their employees appropriate and inappropriate behavior? How about accidental touching? Should we label everyone whose ever accidentally bumped into another person as a sex offender?
C'mon, make the punishment fit the crime...a few hours watching sexual harassment videos and a couple of weeks of after school detention, maybe a couple of week of grounding and the boys will have gotten the message.
The school officials and police officer shouldbe ashamed of the mess they have caused. They should have been able to professional resolve this ago old boy chase girl mischief. People are going to start looking at the sex offender register as a joke if this type of thing is consider a "Sex Crime".
Shades of the Puritan days. Talk about an over reaction Whats next ? Burning our children at the stake for what amounts to childish pranks. Should they be punished ?? Yes! Some sensitivity instruction perhaps some detention or even possibly some community service. All these people who want blood, need to look inward and reflect on some of mistakes THEY made during their childhood years. We all learn by making mistakes each and every one of us. The point is to learn and move onward and upward not downward and backward. These boys could be yours. If one reads the articles closely the girls admitted they were doing the pranks also, shouldn't they be punished too ?
Where is the equality in that and who are the real sick here people anyway ???? I submit to you its certainly not the children! We experienced a similar incident with our daughter, we spoke to the boys parents, the incident was put to rest and the boys actions corrected by his parents. The children are now in their 20's well adjusted and friends. Life is not always this simple yes but thats where things should begin. I personally thing these young men have recognised the error of their ways let them move on
There are boys who have serious problems and need help and then there are boys who are just stupid, and the schools and authorities need to be able to tell the difference. When I was in school, many years ago, boys thought it was fun to snap the back of girls bras. None of these boys ended up being rapists or deviates, but by todays standards they would have been labeled sexual predators. People in postions of authority had better hope that stupidity never becomes a crime. The parents should talk to them, maybe even ground them, but beyond that the court system should build a bridge and get over it.
If we spank the child we go to jail. If we don't spank the child they go to jail. We just can't win can we. Frank you are right the USA must have some real problems, it's called over control.
In my middle school in the 70's girls were "felt up" regularly and I don't mean a swat on the butt. That was sexual harassment. The butt swat behavior is inappropriate just as an intentional slap or punch. Any form of intentional force an another in my children's school is reason for suspension, not life long labeling as a sex offender. The victims have a right to demand justice but they need to come forward and do the right thing. These girls were not raped. They were not violated in the way girls in my school were. What about the girls who confessed that they slapped boys butts. Why aren't they being prosecuted or for that fact repremanded or punished?