14 Year-old Left Blind in One Eye After Homphobic Attack from Bullies
14 year-old Kardin Ulysse is now blind in one eye after a brutal, homophobic assault by bullies in the cafeteria of Roy H. Mann Junior High School in Brooklyn.
The bullies shouted anti-gay epithets as they pinned Kardin to the ground and punched him repeatedly on the head and neck. According to the Ulysse family, Kardin had been hounded by bullies for months, but school officials failed to effectively intervene.
While the two young bullies have been charged with misdemeanors, the family is calling on investigators to charge the young men with committing a hate crime.
The Ulysse family also plans to sue the city for $16 million for failing to properly supervise the students.
“Kardin, who now wears a bandage over his right eye, said he had informed a Roy H. Mann dean that he had been a victim of bullying at the school for some time. Last October, another thug attacked him and tried to steal his school lunch money.
The parents of another 13-year-old student filed a lawsuit against Roy H. Mann last year alleging a pattern of bullying.
A DOE spokesman said the attack on Ulysse was taken “very seriously” by the principal, who notified the NYPD. The alleged assailants face disciplinary action in addition to the criminal prosecution, the spokesman said.
Pierre Ulysse said his son wants to be a doctor. They chose Roy H. Mann because they thought it was the best school in the area.
‘We were wrong,’ he said.”
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