Four students at the Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township have been charged after a classmate of theirs killed herself over the bullying she endured from them.
The father of the 14-year-old Adriana Kuch said his daughter was attacked at the school and was then subjected to online tormenting after video of the attack was shared and spread across social media. Adriana died of suicide on February 3rd.
“She took her own life because she was so unbelievably embarrassed and they kept coming to her and attacking her… on TikTok, Snapchat and sending her direct messages,” her father said.
Multiple students have now been charged over their bullying of the deceased victim and calls are growing for police and school administrators to take bullying – which is a scourge in schools across New Jersey – more seriously.
One juvenile was charged with aggravated assault and two were charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, though Ocean County Prosecutor Brad Billhimer said a third was being charged with that as well. A fourth student was charged with harassment.
Central Regional School District Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides resigned on February 11, a day after inexplicably sharing personal details about Adriana’s personal life.