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The girls then uploaded a video of him being held down naked to Youtube and they weren't prosecuted, why is this?

https://web.archive.org/web/20110604124555/https://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2011-06-01/Online-video-shows-Fort-Myers-boy-being-bullied

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2 Answers 2

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Because the relevant law enforcement decided not to

In the US (and indeed in all common law jurisdictions), law enforcement and prosecutors have discretion over when and if to lay charges by considering such things as the wishes of the victim, the prospects of success and whether charges would be just in the circumstances.

At best, this allows a measured response to the particular situation. At worst, it enables discrimination and persecution. Either way it solves the problem of allocating limited resources to comparatively unlimited need.

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  • According to the linked article, the police said "the girl would have faced misdemeanor battery charges, but that the boy's mother has refused to press charges. She wants the girls' parents to hand out a punishment instead." Is that a decision of "relevant law enforcement" or of the boys' mother?
    – phoog
    May 5 at 11:00
  • @phoog that would be considering the wishes of the victim
    – Dale M ♦
    May 5 at 12:02
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Because no charges were made by the responsible parent.

2011-06-11: Online video shows Fort Myers boy being bullied
...
Fort Myers Police says the girl would have faced misdemeanor battery charges, but that the boy's mother has refused to press charges. She wants the girls' parents to hand out a punishment instead.
...

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    The state can press charges in most jurisdictions if the parents refused. If boys did the same thing to a girl the state would have pressed charges or forced the mother to press charges.
    – John
    May 5 at 3:55
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    The state can raise taxes and legalize prostitution and do all sorts of things it chooses not to. If the question is why didn't they exercise their discretion a certain way, the answer is simple: They didn't want to. Unfortunately, it can't be answered as a legal matter.
    – bdb484
    May 5 at 4:20
  • @John And who would the state charge? The parents? Florida Legal Ages Laws - FindLaw
    – Mark Johnson
    May 5 at 4:54
  • @MarkJohnson There are a variety of offenses available in the juvenile justices system.
    – ohwilleke
    May 5 at 7:06
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    @MarkJohnson the point is that the victim's parent's desire not to charge the perpetrator is not determinative. A complete answer, therefore, is that the police or the prosecutor chose to respect the parent's desire not to charge the perpetrators. They could have chosen not to respect that desire, in which case charges would have been brought even though "no charges were made by the responsible parent."
    – phoog
    May 5 at 11:03

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