Paulding DA To Meet with Arrested Teens

The last month in connection with could learn their legal fates this afternoon.

The teens will meet with Paulding County District Attorney Dick Donovan at 2 p.m. at the . Officials at Donovan’s office told Dallas-Hiram Patch that the media is welcome to attend. We will bring you details of the meeting later today.

It remains to be seen if the teens will be indicted under the crime they were charged with after being arrested by the —criminal interference with government property, a felony under Georgia Code 16-7-24. According to the state law, “A person commits the offense of interference with government property when he destroys, damages, or defaces government property.” Conviction of the crime carries a sentence of imprisonment for one to five years.

saw school buildings spray-painted to include windows; some perpetrators also made it onto the school’s roof, which was also painted. Some of the paintings across the campus, in addition to “Senior” and “2012,” also included the text “YOLO” and “Musgrove is a [expletive]”—the latter message seemingly targeting Assistant Principal Greg Musgrove. In all, school district officials said clean-up of the damage to East Paulding High .

No official word on the school-level punishments of those alleged to be involved in the vandalism was ever released by school district officials, who said that how many students were punished, what punishments they received or whether students’ punishments differed. However, , Jake Zimmerman, said those involved received 10 days of out-of-school suspension followed by long-term suspension for the rest of the year, the latter of which is carried out by . The punishments are in line with those prescribed by Paulding County Schools’ student discipline policy.
Zimmerman earlier this week received an additional punishment at the school level, as , including graduation. Zimmerman after the board’s decision Tuesday said the additional punishment, which he said his peers are not receiving, .

Under Board Policy JD, the students deemed to have been involved in the vandalism , as the incident likely would be classified as a “Level One” offense—defined as “[incidents] that significantly threaten the safety of students and staff, significantly disrupt the orderly school environment, and/or may result in injury or significant loss of property.”

You can keep up with the latest developments on this story and all the news in Dallas and Hiram by subscribing to our free daily newsletter, liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. We also have that can bring you news, our business listings, weather forecasts and more.