Four Guilderland students allegedly involved in the explicit rap song posted online, which detailed alleged sexual encounters of students, have turned themselves in on criminal charges.
The Guilderland Police Department said four Guilderland High School juniors were arrested on Thursday, Nov. 21, and charged with cyberbullying, a misdemeanor, for their connection to the explicit rap song posted to YouTube last week. The four charged were all teenage boys living in Guilderland ranging from 16 to 17 years old when the incident occurred.
Guilderland Police Capt. Curtis Cox said police were “very concerned” after listening to the song. He said two people, who were named in the video, filed complaints with police about the incident.
“When we have victims come forward that are very concerned about it, these people were targeted and names of these individuals were there, we have to look into the matter,” Cox said. “A lot of the (words) were very vulgar, very directive. It describes individuals [alleged] actions targeted, and that makes us very concerned.”
To read a transcription of the song provided by Guilderland police, click here to view our blog entry.
Cox said all four were issued appearance tickets and are scheduled to reappear in Guilderland Town Court on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The misdemeanor charge carries a fine up to $1,000 and up to one year in prison.
Police reached out to the families of those charged to turn themselves in at “their convenience” today, with two coming in the morning, another later in the morning and the fourth person in the afternoon.
“If somebody doesn’t come in voluntarily when you have a case like this, the alternative is to get a warrant for somebody’s arrest,” Cox said. “These folks were very cooperative in the matter.”
Spotlight News at this time is not releasing the names of the four students that were charged. State Penal Law classifies an adult as 16 years old.
Guilderland school district officials suspended the four students from school last week.
Cox said police worked with district administrators during the criminal investigation. He said the four individuals did not willfully come forward and had to be asked to be interviewed about the incident.
“The school district took administrative action as they can through school, and the police department ran its concurrent investigation into the incident,” Cox said.
Cox was not aware how the four teens were determined to be suspects, but said at least one used his real name in the song.
Police, along with school officials, said the motive or reasoning behind students releasing the song is not clear.
“The motivation behind the students, I don’t know,” Cox said.
The video, titled “Guilderland Sophomore Rap,” featured an explicit rap song describing “inappropriate accusations” and “sexually explicit descriptions” of students by name, Cox said.
The description for the YouTube video read, “Guilderland 2016 is a slut fest.” The video was an audio clip set to a picture of the Guilderland High School entrance sign.
Guilderland Superintendent of Schools Marie Wiles previously said she was appalled by the content of the song.
“Children were mentioned by name and in a manner that was highly inappropriate and hurtful,” Wiles said. “I was stunned by the graphic and obscene nature of the comments made. … The comments were shocking and insulting.”
Guilderland school officials had contacted YouTube Tuesday, Nov. 12, to remove the video, but the user apparently removed it from the website later that day. Cox said there were “different versions” of the video posted online, but all are removed.
The Albany County Legislature in 2010 passed the cyberbullying law that was applied to students in this incident.
“The intent of the local law is pretty specific,” Cox said. “We had complainants that felt bullied and victimized by this, therefore when you apply it to the law it fits … and they are charged according.”
Cox said cyberbullying is “a serious matter” and it will not be tolerated.
“People all across the country are suffering from physiological effects of being bullied, some have even committed suicide, and I think that speaks for itself,” he said.
Cox said parents should try to be “more vigilant” of what their children are doing on social media, along with other online activity.
“Having conversations with them about a situation like this on something that perhaps these kids thought was a big joke can transform into something that is extremely serious,” Cox said. “That is the message we want to get out — how dangerous this is and how inappropriate.”