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Girl in Slender Man stabbing gets maximum mental commitment

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Girl in Slender Man stabbing gets maximum mental commitment
News

News

Girl in Slender Man stabbing gets maximum mental commitment

2018-02-02 10:56 Last Updated At:12:41

A Wisconsin girl who stabbed a classmate to curry favor with the fictional horror character Slender Man will be committed to a mental hospital for 40 years, a judge ordered Thursday, explaining his decision as "an issue of community protection."

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017 file photo, Morgan Geyser, left, looks to her attorney Anthony Cotton as she appears in a in a Waukesha County Courtroom in Waukesha, Wis. (Michael Sears /Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017 file photo, Morgan Geyser, left, looks to her attorney Anthony Cotton as she appears in a in a Waukesha County Courtroom in Waukesha, Wis. (Michael Sears /Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

Judge Michael Bohren granted the maximum penalty that prosecutors had sought and discounted Morgan Geyser's youth — she was just 12 — at the time of the attack in 2014.

"What we can't forget is this was an attempted murder," Bohren said. Earlier, he heard from four doctors who talked about how Geyser is making progress with her mental illness, to various degrees. But Bohren called the teenager "a fragile person" whose long history suffering from delusions make her a risk to hurt herself and others.

Morgan Geyser, 15, appears for sentencing before Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 in Waukesha, Wis. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Morgan Geyser, 15, appears for sentencing before Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 in Waukesha, Wis. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Geyser, now 15, spoke briefly before she was sentenced, breaking down in tears as she apologized to the girl she stabbed, Payton Leutner.

"I just want to let Bella and her family know that I'm sorry," she said, using a nickname for Leutner. "And I hope she's doing well."

Geyser and another girl, Anissa Weier, admitted that they lured Leutner into some woods near a suburban Milwaukee park. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier urged her on, according to investigators. They left Leutner for dead but she crawled out of the woods and got help from a passing bicyclist. All three girls were 12 at the time.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren, begins the sentencing phase in the trial of Morgan Geyser, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 in Waukesha, Wis. Geyser is one of two girls who tried to kill a classmate with a knife to appease fictional horror character Slender Man. Prosecutors want Geyser to spend the maximum 40 years in a mental hospital for stabbing Payton Leutner in suburban Milwaukee in 2014. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren, begins the sentencing phase in the trial of Morgan Geyser, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018 in Waukesha, Wis. Geyser is one of two girls who tried to kill a classmate with a knife to appease fictional horror character Slender Man. Prosecutors want Geyser to spend the maximum 40 years in a mental hospital for stabbing Payton Leutner in suburban Milwaukee in 2014. (Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, Pool)

"Really judge, it's a miracle that Peyton is still with us, that she survived this," said prosecutor Ted Szczupakiewicz.

Geyser and Weier said they carried out the attack to appease Slender Man, a fictional online horror character who they said they feared would otherwise harm them and their families. Slender Man is often typified by spidery limbs and a blank white face.

Weier was sentenced to 25 years in a mental hospital in December. She pleaded guilty in August to being a party to attempted second-degree intentional homicide, but she claimed she wasn't responsible for her actions because she was mentally ill. In September, a jury agreed.

At Geyser's sentencing Thursday, doctors who evaluated her gave conflicting opinions about the type of institutional care she needs and the severity of her continued hallucinations.

Prosecutors presented testimony from a doctor who said Geyser reported still hearing voices from someone named "Maggie" as recently as September.

Dr. Brooke Lundbohm acknowledged that Geyser has made significant progress over the last three years, but said she emphatically believes she is still a danger to herself and others.

"This is not a close call," she said.

Geyser's attorneys argued for her to be moved to a less restrictive facility with children her age and the possibility of being able to be on outings with supervision if she's well enough.

"She has a condition she didn't choose to have," said Anthony Cotton, one of Geyser's attorneys.

They argued in court documents that she suffered from schizophrenia and psychotic spectrum disorder, making her prone to delusions and paranoid beliefs. But three doctors the defense called Thursday said she no longer shows psychotic symptoms and would benefit being in a residential facility where she can socialize with other teenagers. She's currently at a state mental facility with adults and doctors said she is the youngest patient there.

"I believe at the present time she is no more dangerous than any adolescent her age," said Dr. Kenneth Robbins.

Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in October in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison. She may seek conditional release before the 40 years are up.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — The first woman to command Canada's military called out a U.S. senator on Saturday for questioning the role of women in combat.

Gen. Jennie Carignan responded to comments made by Idaho Republican Sen. Jim Risch, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was asked on Friday whether President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, should retract comments that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units.

“I think it’s delusional for anybody to not agree that women in combat creates certain unique situations that have to be dealt with. I think the jury’s still out on how to do that," Risch said during a panel session at the Halifax International Security Forum on Friday.

Carignan, Canada's chief of defense staff and the first woman to command the armed forces of any Group of 20 or Group of Seven country, took issue with those remarks during a panel session on Saturday.

"If you’ll allow me, I would first like maybe to respond to Senator Risch’s statement yesterday about women in combat because I wouldn’t want anyone to leave this forum with this idea that women are a distraction to defense and national security," Carignan said.

“After 39 years of career as a combat arms officer and risking my life in many operations across the world, I can’t believe that in 2024, we still have to justify the contribution of women to their defense and to their service, in their country. I wouldn’t want anyone to leave this forum with this idea that this is that it is some kind of social experiment.”

Carignan said women have participating in combat for hundreds of years but have never been recognized for fighting for their country. She noted the women military personnel in the room.

“All the women sitting here in uniform, stepping in, and deciding to get into harm’s way and fight for their country, need to be recognized for doing so," she said. “So again, this is the distraction, not the women themselves."

Carignan received a standing ovation at the forum, which attracts defense and security officials from Western democracies.

Hegseth has reignited a debate that many thought had been long settled: Should women be allowed to serve their country by fighting on the front lines?

The former Fox News commentator made it clear, in his own book and in interviews, that he believes men and women should not serve together in combat units. If Hegseth is confirmed by the Senate, he could try to end the Pentagon’s nearly decade-old practice of making all combat jobs open to women.

Hegseth’s remarks have generated a barrage of praise and condemnation.

Carignan was promoted to the rank of general during the change-of-command ceremony this past summer, after being chosen by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to become Canada’s first female defense chief.

Carignan is no stranger to firsts. She was also the first woman to command a combat unit in the Canadian military, and her career has included deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Syria.

For the last three years, she has been the chief of professional conduct and culture, a job created as a result of the sexual misconduct scandal in 2021.

Her appointment this year comes as Canada continues to face criticism from NATO allies for not spending 2% of its gross domestic product on defense. The Canadian government recently said that it would reach its NATO commitment by 2032.

Risch said Friday Trump would laugh at Canada’s current military spending plans and said the country must do more.

Attendees applaud Canada's Chief of Defense Staff at The Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. (AP Photo/Rob Gillies) (AP Photo/Rob Gillies)

Attendees applaud Canada's Chief of Defense Staff at The Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024 in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. (AP Photo/Rob Gillies) (AP Photo/Rob Gillies)

FILE - Gen. Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defense Staff, participates in a media availability after a change of command ceremony at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Gen. Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defense Staff, participates in a media availability after a change of command ceremony at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

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