Juvenile Delinquent Loose on The O’Neal School Campus
On August 13, 2024, while The O’Neal School held its orientation for middle school students, a hearing was scheduled for a petition of simple assault against the juvenile who attacked the Stefanik child. The district attorney’s office had prepared extensive evidence for the case, including medical records, incriminating documents, and subpoenas for numerous witnesses, such as doctors, the eyewitness, the police detective who led the investigation, the school nurse, the former school counselor, and the assailant.
However, instead of proceeding to the hearing to defend his supposed innocence, it was revealed that the accused would enter an Alford plea, which the court treats as a guilty plea, to the charges of simple assault. The judge carefully explained the rights of the accused. After swearing on the Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the juvenile confirmed that he was agreeing to the plea of his own free will, acknowledging that the prosecution had sufficient evidence to likely convict him for the assault occurring on April 24, 2023, at The O’Neal School campus at 3300 Airport Road.
Their criminal defense attorney, Walter I. “Butch” Jenkins III, then attempted to downplay and minimize the victim’s injuries. He ignored the stack of medical records and conveniently disregarded the scheduled testimony of witnesses that would now not be heard. This strategy appeared to be an attempt to misrepresent the injuries in hopes of gaining leniency from the judge prior to the defendant’s sentencing. The victim’s family promptly spoke out in court to refute the despicable assertions.
They detailed how their child suffered from a baseball-sized hematoma in his abdomen—a large blood mass that left him basically confined to a reclining chair. Despite receiving maximum doses of pain medication around the clock, he experienced chronic pain, was unable to participate in school or sports, and consistently tested positive for blood in his urine. Weekly doctor visits led to substantial medical bills, and after six weeks, he was diagnosed at Duke Sports Sciences Institute with a muscle fascial tear, dangerously close to his intestinal wall. The injury required an abdominal pain injection and continued physical therapy before he was finally released back to normal activities nearly two months later.
After hearing these statements and conferring with the prosecution, the assailant was placed on 90 days of probation with additional stipulations, during which time he is to have no contact—direct or indirect—with the victim. He will be re-evaluated by the juvenile court on November 12, 2024, and if he has completed all requirements of his probation, no further sentencing will occur. This offense will now be a part of his juvenile record, which is expected to remain until he reaches adulthood.
The judge was also informed that this adjudicated delinquent would be starting school the very next day, unsurprisingly, at The O’Neal School.
For those who are not aware, this child has repeatedly lied about the circumstances of the assault. During the proceedings, at NO TIME did anyone suggest that the victim instigated the attack or bullied the assailant; instead, it was claimed that the injuries were “accidental,” directly conflicting with the eyewitness testimony and medical evidence. For example, after personally examining the injuries sustained by the victim, Dr. Joseph Boals from Sandhills Pediatrics noted that “it is highly unlikely that this trauma resulted from an accident on the part of the child who [victim] states kicked him three times in the same area of the hematoma.”
O’Neal has an honor code in their middle school handbook (on page 9) that they tout every year as being an essential part of their campus culture. This code states:
Students enrolled in The O’Neal School are expected to abide by the letter and the spirit of the Honor Code. The goals of the Honor Code include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
- 1. To support, in individual students, the further development of integrity, responsibility, and accountability in both academic and personal matters.
- 3. To assist in maintaining a high ethical climate.
- 5. To instill in students a constant awareness of the ramifications of their actions and the need not to place themselves in questionable situations or in circumstances that connote dishonest or unlawful acts.
The handbook further contains general standards of behavior on page 10:
The O’Neal School Honor Code is broken on any occasion when a student is involved in lying, cheating, stealing, or plagiarism.
Students are expected to be courteous, respectful, and kind at all times during the school day, while on school vehicles, and while participating in school-sponsored events. Students are expected to:
- 1. Act in accordance with the laws of North Carolina and/or the United States.
- 3. Act safely and consider and respect the safety, physical and emotional, of others. Physical violence and bullying are not tolerated.
We can’t think of many acts more egregious in violation of these rules than physically assaulting another student, lying about it, and then ultimately taking a plea in court for charges of assault—all the while standing idly by as the school’s administration threatened and targeted the victim, one of their friends, to keep them from speaking out about the incident.
It is particularly troubling that the Stefanik child had befriended the new student during his first year of attendance at The O’Neal School. The assault occurred near the gazebo while they were playing tag when the Stefanik child called “timeout” in an attempt to avoid being touched. In response, the assailant jumped him from behind revealing a dangerous anger management and impulse control problem while another mutual friend witnessed the attack. If this child can cause such severe injuries to a close friend, what would he do to someone he doesn’t like?
For nearly a full year, the school’s administrators allowed this attacker to attend classes on campus after the victim had been expelled. Additionally, as part of the assailant’s “consequences,” the school promoted him to a varsity athletic league, highlighting his performance on the team. A member of the Board then tried to smear the reputation of the victim’s family, implying that their child may have been responsible for instigating the assault, even though it is now clear that this was not true. Making matters even worse, the school has yet to announce a replacement for Jeff Medlin, the Director of Safety and Security, who departed at the end of the last school year after investigating serious threats of violence made by another middle school student against faculty and staff.
The written response from the Board of Trustees to the Stefaniks’ complaint regarding campus safety and mishandling of the assault stated:
“As you advised us that you have asked the Southern Pines Police Department to investigate your allegations, you have opted for adjudication of this matter in the criminal justice system, and O’Neal will thus refrain from further action until the conclusion of the judicial process. We will, at that point, revisit the incident and determine whether disciplinary or other action is warranted.” – Lynda Acker, Former Board of Trustees Chair
Will the Interim Head of School, Brenda Jackson, and the new Board Chair, Chris Rhue, now take decisive action to address a serious community threat, or will O’Neal once again protect this student? Either way, we know that there is at least one juvenile with a record of assault roaming freely on campus in an environment that, by their former Chair’s own admission, has been poorly monitored in the past.
Parents, beware.