海角大神

When Florida Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called a press conference last fall to announce the arrest of two juvenile girls on aggravated stalking charges, he said that the girls essentially drove 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick to commit suicide through relentless online bullying.

鈥淩ebecca was absolutely terrorized on social media,鈥� Sheriff Judd said at one press conference, asserting that up to 15 students may have been involved.

The case, seemingly an egregious example of another instance in which teenage bullying was to blame for a suicide, drew international media attention and reignited a conversation about the dangers of bullying, and cyberbullying in particular.

But just a month after charges were filed, they were dropped because of insufficient evidence.

And now, reviews of the police files for the case paint a far more complex picture of what Rebecca was dealing with 鈥� including family problems with her mother, stepfather, and father; a history of self-cutting, and a breakup with an Internet boyfriend just before her suicide. The reviews of the police files also reveal little evidence of the online bullying that Judd said was so pervasive.

The files have caused some bullying experts to criticize the way in which the case was handled and to paint it as a cautionary tale of too quickly drawing assumptions along the accepted story line that the public and news media now look for 鈥� blaming suicide on bullying.

鈥淭he more I look at these files, the more livid I am at this sheriff,鈥� says Nancy Willard, director of Embrace Civility in the Digital Age, which works to combat cyberbullying, and author of 鈥淧ositive Relations @ School (& Elsewhere).鈥� Ms. Willard has extensively reviewed all the police files for the case.

鈥淚n his first press conference ... Sheriff Judd made the assertion that Rebecca had been tormented through social media by up to 15 girls for over a year,鈥� Willard says. 鈥淛ust recently, I received a message from his public information office that stated, 鈥榃e received 26,000 pages of chat log that were of no value to the criminal investigation.鈥� My conclusion is that his brazen assertion had absolutely no basis in any evidence.鈥�

Judd鈥檚 office stands by its decision, and there is evidence that 鈥渃learly supported the charges of Aggravated Stalking,鈥� says spokeswoman Carrie Eleazer in an e-mail to the Monitor. 鈥淥ne suspect we arrested is now receiving help through diversionary programs offered to her by the State Attorney鈥檚 Office in exchange for her charges being dropped. The other suspect has been and is participating in voluntary counseling arranged by her family. These are positive outcomes and ones that we support.鈥�

At the time of their arrests, Katelyn Roman was 12 and Guadalupe Shaw 14.

A review of police files shows that Rebecca was involuntarily committed and evaluated for 鈥渟uicidal ideation鈥� nearly a year before her death, and that 鈥淩ebecca鈥檚 stressors were the arguments between her mom and stepdad and Rebecca鈥檚 biological father not being a constant part of her life.鈥�

It reveals conflicts with other students at her school 鈥� from which she withdrew in February 2013 鈥� both around a boyfriend and students calling her a 鈥渓iar.鈥� That label was apparently due to an abuse report that she filed against her mother, which was later judged to be false. Rebecca was also cutting herself 鈥� something she attributed to bullying in February.

The police files contain numerous allegations by various students of 鈥渂ullying鈥� that occurred, but little in the way of actual chats or transcripts from social media that could be used as evidence.

鈥淭here was a period of maybe a little more than a month of teen drama鈥� mostly around a boyfriend, Willard says, 鈥渇ollowed by zero reports of anyone witnessing any further bullying.鈥�

鈥淎rguments and disagreements over a boyfriend is teen drama; it鈥檚 not bullying,鈥� she adds, noting that 鈥渂y the time police officers started doing all the questioning at school, all of the news media was out there saying Rebecca was being bullied, so that鈥檚 the language the students were using.鈥�

Even the famous Facebook post 鈥� in which one of the girls allegedly posted nearly a month after Rebecca鈥檚 death, 鈥淵es, I bullied Rebecca and she killed herself but I don't give a [expletive]鈥� 鈥� is probably 鈥渢he profoundly anguished posting of a young girl who is being accused of causing another child to [commit] suicide,鈥� Willard says. (The girl鈥檚 parents state she couldn鈥檛 have posted the statement, since she was in bed, with no access to a computer, at the time it was posted.)

Rebecca was clearly grappling with suicide for some time before her death. She had been conducting Internet searches that seemed to point to ways of harming herself. In her diary, she made a list of 鈥渂ad things I got called today鈥� and 鈥済ood things I got called today鈥�: Under 鈥渂ad鈥� were words like 鈥渟tupid,鈥� 鈥渟lut,鈥� and 鈥渦gly鈥�; the good side included 鈥渟mart,鈥� 鈥減retty,鈥� and 鈥渘ice.鈥� At the bottom of the page she wrote 鈥渟uicidal.鈥�

In an interview with the Lakeland Ledger on Monday, a local newspaper, Rebecca鈥檚 mother, Tricia Norman, strongly took issue with the idea that family problems played a role in Rebecca鈥檚 suicide.

鈥淚 really don't think there was any other factors involved" beyond bullying, Ms. Norman told The Ledger. "Her home life with me was fine. The only issue was me and her stepdad argued sometimes, but all kids have parents that argue. It wasn't anything upsetting her or making her miserable or anything else.鈥�

She did say that Rebecca had at least two instances of deliberately 鈥渟cratching鈥� herself to gain attention from her father, but reiterated her conviction that bullying was what made her take her life. "What Rebecca was upset over in her life was these girls not leaving her alone," Norman said.

Numerous references are made to possible bullying in police interviews with classmates, but there is scant evidence in the files of actual bullying and no transcripts of online interactions between Rebecca and the two girls charged with stalking.

Screen shots of 鈥渁nonymous鈥� comments made to Rebecca on Ask.fm, a social networking tool, have been released, saying things like 鈥淣obody cares about you鈥� and 鈥測ou seriously deserve to die.鈥� But the tone of the 鈥渃onversations鈥� at least raises the possibility that they were an example of 鈥渟uicide ideation鈥� on Rebecca鈥檚 part and that she posted them herself, says Willard, noting that there are other examples of that occurring.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Judd said that he and his deputies tried to obtain records from overseas social media companies without success. He also said that some of the evidence and conversations they heard about seemed to have been deleted.

"Rebecca was a very fragile child," Judd told the AP. "Rebecca's wagon was already pretty heavily burdened with bricks. And we never said that bullying was the only reason Rebecca committed suicide. But what the bullies did is that they continued to stack bricks on an already-overloaded wagon, till finally it broke."

But Willard and others say the case was a clear example of the dangers of pinning too much blame on bullying while ignoring other factors that may have played a role in suicide. They also criticize Judd for the very public way in which his office brought charges against the two girls, including naming them and identifying them with photos, despite the fact that they were juveniles.

When the charges were dropped in November, the lawyer for one of the girls said it was 鈥渞eckless鈥� that charges had been brought.

鈥淲hat I didn鈥檛 like, right from the beginning, about how Rebecca鈥檚 case was handled is that it was prosecuted in the public,鈥� says Justin Patchin, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a criminal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire.

鈥淭he sheriff went public with everything so quickly,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ven if the allegations against two minors were confirmed, it still should have been handled privately in juvenile court.鈥�

In response, Ms. Eleazer of the sheriff鈥檚 office told the Monitor, 鈥淭he name, address, photo, and charges against a juvenile arrested for a felony in the state of Florida is public record. Our release of their information was done so in compliance with this law.鈥�

Professor Patchin and Willard both say that research shows a connection between bullying and suicide, but emphasize that establishing a direct cause can be very difficult. Most cases also involve other factors, including depression and mental health issues.

According to the 2011 National Crime Victimization Survey, about 9.2 percent of students 鈥� some 1.2 million students 鈥� report that someone was 鈥渉urtful鈥� to them at school once or twice a week. Of that number, 540,000 said someone was hurtful 鈥渁lmost every day.鈥�

鈥淢any kids get bullied, and that vast majority don鈥檛 commit suicide or think seriously about committing suicide,鈥� Patchin says.

Willard agrees, saying she鈥檚 troubled by the rapidity with which the public seems to want to point fingers at other children for almost every suicide these days, even when the evidence isn鈥檛 there 鈥� or to 鈥渂lame and arrest children鈥� while ignoring other factors that may have been even more of a driver toward suicide.

She鈥檚 concerned, too, that publicizing a message that bullying leads to suicide may inadvertently be leading to more suicides, as students take home the message that 鈥渋f they鈥檙e being bullied, suicide is an option they should consider.鈥�

Both Willard and Patchin say bullying 鈥� both online and in person 鈥� is a major problem that is not being addressed well by schools. But they also say that criminalization of bullying 鈥� or exaggerating its role 鈥� isn鈥檛 the best way to go about stopping it.

鈥淪ometimes bullying is a major factor [in a suicide], sometimes it is a contributing factor, sometimes a hurtful incident can be a trigger,鈥� says Willard. 鈥淏ut bullying is never the only factor in a young person鈥檚 decision to [commit] suicide.鈥�

鈥� Staff writer Stacy Teicher Khadaroo contributed to this report.