Four teens who vandalized an upstate New York Jewish bungalow colony in April have publicly apologized and read their essays on the Jewish New Year to the court. A fifth is due to join them later in the month.
The teens, 19-year-old Daniel Anderson and Daemion Cameron, 18-year-old Malik Keith and 16-year-old Travis Beaupierre, each wrote an essay on the meaning of Rosh HaShanah at the behest of Judge Frank LaBuda. Dishawn Terry, 16, will also read an essay he has written on the meaning of the Jewish New Year.
All four were residents of Abbott House, a group home for troubled youths in nearby Swan Lake, when they spray-painted a swastika, the word “Hitler” and some gang-related graffiti in the Kaiman bungalow colony. They also admitted to causing similar damage at a bungalow colony across the road.They were caught by sheriff's deputies as they were leaving the property.
The youths, who were charged with third-degree burglary, were formally sentenced Friday to serve six months in jail, which they have already done, and 500 hours of community service. They were also fined several thousand dollars.
The judge also made the youths write their essays – and read them to the court – as a condition of their plea agreements, timing their appearance and sentencing to fall just prior to the start of the Jewish New Year. "September 8... is an important day and what you did is so offensive," LaBuda reportedly told one of the boys.
According to the Times Herald-Record, the boys have since also offered to help the owner of the bungalow colony clean up the property. None have previously been involved in a hate crime, according to police, although all have previously been involved with the law.