Source: Facebook.com

Last week, a 17-year-old teenage boy was arrested for threatening four students at Millikan High School in Long Beach. The way he threatened his victims was through the social networking site, Facebook. The student created a fictitious Facebook account, added students from his high school as his friends on the site, and then threatened them. Police say that this cyber bullying was as bad as making threats face-to-face. The teenager now faces charges of fraud for the threats and obstruction of justice for lying to police during the investigation.

Teenagers may find it easier to bully someone through the computer, rather than in person. However, this “cyber-bullying” can be just as damaging to the victims as bullying them in person. Harmful effects of victims of cyber-bullying include stress, intimidation, depression and suicide.

A juvenile who is charged with any crime, should contact an experienced criminal defense attorney right away. The juvenile justice system works differently than the adult system and therefore, the attorney must know how to properly navigate through the system. The main difference between the juvenile justice system and the adult system is that the juvenile justice system urges rehabilitation instead of incapacitation. Irregardless of this goal of rehabilitation, if a juvenile is convicted of a crime, they face punishments ranging from probation to prison.

Therefore, if you are charged with a crime as a juvenile, please contact an experienced criminal defense attorney right away to assist you.