Deshawn Isabelle, at 15 years of age, isn’t what you would typically think of when you hear the words “sexual predator.”
Yet, authorities claim that one mid afternoon last week, he approached a 41-year-old woman from behind, knocked her to the ground, and began brutalizing her in the aisle of a Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line train.
The assault started with punching and kicking as the woman was said to have curled up in the fetal position to protect against the middle school student’s alleged attack.
The attacker didn’t stop there, however. After brutalizing the woman, he thrust his hands into her pants and sexually assaulted her. The assailant also allegedly groped the woman’s breasts and slapped her buttocks before sitting on her head and letting loose with a barrage of punches.
According to a report from NBC Chicago, the woman was in the hospital and “still vomiting” from her injuries a few days later.
Immediately, the CTA started working with police, posting pictures of the attacker from the surveillance camera footage. When the mother of Deshawn Isabelle recognized the image as that of her son, she turned him in to authorities.
However, NBC Chicago notes, she wasn’t completely satisfied with the prosecutor’s decision to try Deshawn as an adult for aggravated sexual assault.
At a press conference, the news site said that she screamed out at one point.
“Quit talking about that s**t about my child!”
Most of the commenters on ABC 7 Chicago gave the woman credit for turning in her son, but they disagreed with her on the issue of trying her son as an adult with most saying go ahead and do it.
“If this is what this kid is doing at 15 I’d hate to see him as an adult,” wrote Leroy Goldberg, “and I mean that literally.”
“He’s not a candidate for ‘turning his life around.’ He’s already made his choice of which road to take,” said a second commenter.
While it’s a proven fact the human brain is still developing at the age of 15 and therefore it may not be in the best interests of society to turn a young teen into a hardened criminal through hard prison time, the fact that most 15-year-olds would never do this sort of thing and clearly know the difference between right and wrong, many are understanding of why the prosecution would charge him as an adult.
But what do you think, readers? Is Deshawn Isabelle too young for prison? Sound off in the comments section.