Juvenile admits Liberty Middle School assault

A 14-year-old Liberty Middle School student on Thursday admitted assaulting a fellow student and was placed in the custody of the Missouri Division of Youth Services.

His name is not a public record in Missouri.

The victim has been identified by his mother as Blake Kitchen, a 12-year-old sixth-grader who was knocked unconscious in the Feb. 19 attack and left bleeding on the floor of the school cafeteria.

Blake spent five days in the hospital being treated for a broken jaw and skull fracture. Cerebrospinal fluid leaked from his right ear, possibly causing some hearing loss at the time, according to his mother, Destiny Kitchen.

In the adjudication hearing Thursday in Clay County family court, the eighth-grade student admitted that he assaulted Blake. He has been committed to the custody of the state’s youth services division for treatment, said Janet Rogers, interim juvenile officer for Clay County.

State youth workers will assess his home life and behavior, investigate any past incidents and interview family members to determine what type of treatment he will receive, Rogers said.

“They can pretty much tailor a program to each individual kid based on their needs,” she said. “Their goal is to get these kids turned around so they can make better choices before they hit adulthood.”

Rogers could not comment about specific treatment the juvenile is likely to receive or where he will be placed.

Gregory Culotta, the juvenile’s attorney, said his client and the boy’s family apologized for what happened.

“He is not a bad kid. He obviously did something wrong and he is going to suffer the consequences of that and he is going to do the best he can to come back from that,” Culotta said.

The juvenile also had been a victim of bullying and had previously alerted school officials, Culotta said.

“But we don’t want to lessen the fact of how he feels and he wishes he could take back everything that happened,” he said.

Liberty school officials said Friday that they could not comment about the teen’s enrollment status. The district’s disciplinary policies for assault range from in-school suspension to expulsion.

Blake previously had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome, his mother said. He is 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 74 pounds. His alleged attacker stands a foot taller and weighs more than 200 pounds, according to Destiny Kitchen.

This story was originally published March 13, 2015 at 10:39 AM with the headline "Juvenile admits Liberty Middle School assault."