Mulveyhill must complete 100 hours of community service, working with underprivileged or at-risk youth.
Sean Mulveyhill, at a September 2010 court appearance.NORTHAMPTON - Sean Mulveyhill, one of six teens charged in connection with the bullying-related suicide of South Hadley High School freshman Phoebe Prince, pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of criminal harassment in Hampshire Superior Court this morning.
Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder accepted the recommendation to the court and sentenced Mulveyhill, 18, to one year of probation, with several provisions:
- He is to have no contact with Prince's family, without their consent.
- He must complete 100 hours of community service, working with underprivileged or at-risk youth.
- He must complete his GED.
- He may not financially profit in any way from his role in the case.
Mulveyhill was arraigned in April 2010 on charges of statutory rape, violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. The criminal harassment charge carried a maximum penalty of 2 1/2 years in a house of corrections or a $1,000 fine.
Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, was present for the proceedings, and offered a tearful victim impact statement. O'Brien said she had trusted Mulveyhill to care for and guide her daughter as a new student at South Hadley High School.
"Had I known the truth, I would have viewed his interest in my daughter as predatory," she said.
In her attempt to "measure a future loss," O'Brien described her family's treasured vacations to France: trips filled with games of tennis, and Phoebe going from stall to stall at markets practicing her French. O'Brien said she has not returned to France since her daughter's death, saying the country is "[n]ow a place of the ghosts of laughter and love lost."
Kinder was also provided with impact statement's from Phoebe's sister and from her father, Jeremy Prince. The judge read the statements silently at the bench. Copies were not made available to the media.
Mulveyhill was represented in court by Springfield lawyers Vincent Biongiorni and Frank E. Flannery.
Representing the Commonwealth was Northwestern First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne, who said the agreement was reached "with the informed consent and support of Phoebe Prince's family."
Another defendant, Kayla Narey, is scheduled to appear in court at 10:30 a.m. today.
Three more defendants are due in court on Thursday.
Sharon Velazquez is scheduled to appear at 11 a.m. Ashley Longe and Flannery Mullins will appear in Franklin Hampshire Juvenile Court at 2 p.m. for what will likely be a resolution of the charges against them.
The five teens -- all former South Hadley High School Students -- were charged in the wake of the Jan. 2010 suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Former Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel, who filed the charges, said the teens had subjected Prince to an extended campaign of bullying. Prince was in her first year at the high school after her family moved here from Ireland.
A sixth defendant, Austin Renaud, still faces a count of statutory rape for allegedly having sex with Prince -- a charge he has denied. He is not accused of harassing Prince. A pretrial conference in his case is scheduled for July 6.
This is a developing story; it will be updated as our reporting continues.