Renaud in his statement also expressed a desire to fade from public view.
Austin Renaud as he appeared during a February hearing in Hampshire District Court related charges against him in the Phoebe Prince case. SOUTH HADLEY - Austin Renaud, one of six teens who had been facing prosecution in the Phoebe Prince suicide case, publicly offered his condolences Thursday to the Prince family for their loss, and expressed thanks for their “recommendation” to the district attorney that he drop the charge against him.
“My thoughts and prayers continue to be with her family as they endure the pain of the passing of Phoebe,” he wrote in his statement.
Renaud, 19, who for more than the past year has been in a spotlight of notoriety from the international fallout from the Prince case, also expressed his desire now to fade from public view.
“I will be resuming my education and will continue to work. I would ask the public and the media to respect my request for privacy,” his statement read. “I will have no further public comment.”
The statement was released Thursday afternoon through his lawyer, Terrence M. Dunphy, of Springfield. Dunphy said he had nothing to add.
Renaud was one of six former South Hadley High School students charged with felonies following Prince’s suicide in January 2010.
Investigators said Prince, an Irish immigrant new to the South Hadley schools, hanged herself following a period of intense harassment and bullying at school. Her death helped spark an state campaign to address school bullying and focused international attention on the problem.
Renaud was not charged with bullying Prince, but he was charged with a single count of statutory rape, which he denied.
Prosecutors charged that Renaud, then 17, had sex with Prince while she was 15, under the age of consent in Massachusetts.
Phoebe PrinceRenaud was scheduled for a pretrial conference in Hampshire Superior Court on July 6, but Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan last week announced his office had dismissed the case against Renaud at the request of Prince’s family.
Renaud in his statement expressed his deep appreciation to the Prince family for intervening with authorities to recommend the charge be dropped.
“This has been a very difficult and emotional experience for all involved, and their kindness and consideration is appreciated,” he wrote.
The case itself came to a close last week.
Sharon C. Velazquez, 17, and Flannery Mullins, 18, admitted that the facts were sufficient for a delinquency finding of criminal harassment, while Ashley Longe, 18, did the same for the misdemeanor counts of disturbing a school assembly and a civil rights violation. The charges will be continued without finding until Mullins and Longe turn 19 and Velazquez turns 18. At that point, the charges will be dismissed.
Kayla Narey, 18, admitted to sufficient facts for a guilty finding on a criminal harassment charge. That charge will be dropped after a year’s probation.
Sean Mulveyhill, 18, pleaded guilty to the same charge and will have it on his criminal record. He was also ordered to serve a year’s probation.
Austin Renaud Statement for the Media 5-12-2011