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Bullies Face Felony Charges Over Victim Suicide

Authorities in Lakeland, Fla., responded to the suicide of 12-year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick with unprecedented force last week when they charged the two young girls accused of bullying her with aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony. So reports USA Today.

One of the girls accused in the case is a 12-year-old who was once a close friend of Sedwick. The other, a14-year-old, took up a beef with Sedwick after she began dating a boy Sedwick was once seeing. Because the two girls, who were charged as juveniles, did not have any previous criminal history, it's not clear how much time, if any, they would spend in juvenile detention if found guilty.

Clarifying that bullying itself is not a crime, "but bullying makes up the predicate acts for stalking or aggravated stalking," Florida authorities said they were moved to arrest the two suspects after the 14-year-old published a Facebook post admitting she bullied Sedwick and that she had killed herself but that “IDGAF,” which is shorthand for “I don’t give a (expletive).”

Read the full article from USA Today.

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