A 13-year-old charged with the attempted rape of a teacher appeared in court Friday morning.
/ Ryan Naquin
HORRY COUNTY -- In a Conway courtroom Friday morning, the 15th Circuit Solicitor's Office presented a mental evaluation for a 13-year-old boy charged with the attempted rape of a teacher at Whittemore Park Middle School, saying a state psychiatrist determined the boy to be incompetent to stand trial and was unlikely to become competent.
That means the evaluator found the boy could not comprehend the duties of the court, therefore it would be unlawful prosecute him.
During the hearing, Asst. Solicitor Caroline Fox asked for an additional evaluation because the initial one found the boy does have some understanding of the law.
The evaluation showed the boy has an IQ of 62. According to the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale, anything between a score of 52 - 68 is considered "Moderate Retardation."
On February 29th, Conway police charged the boy with Assault with Intent to Commit Criminal Sexual Conduct Second Degree. They say, after hours, he went to Whittemore Park Middle School, where he was not a student, and tried to force a teacher into a bathroom.
The victim was in the courtroom on Friday. She told the judge she is finding it difficult to be around strangers. She said she often turns and runs in the opposite direction when she encounters someone she does not know.
Fox said the boy was expelled from his previous school for inappropriately touching a teacher.
Fox told the judge when the boy was 11-years-old, he killed a puppy by punching it in the face. She said the county sent him to counseling through a Department of Juvenile Justice grant. She also told the court the boy's mother was just 13-years-old when she gave birth to him.
At the end of the hearing, Horry County Family Court Judge Ronald Norton ruled the boy should receive further mental evaluation.
If the judge hadn't asked for another evaluation, the county would have no authority to hold the boy and the case would have gone to probate court, said Fox. Probate court would have determined if the boy was mentally ill and needed to be committed.
The county will now observe the boy for 60 days, and another evaluation will be presented to the county's juvenile court.
The court will hear the results of the new evaluation May 25th.
The teen's name is not being released because of his age.
