The family of Trent Lehrkamp blasted Georgia authorities after they held a press conference Monday minimizing the abuse and humiliation the 19-year-old endured at the hands of teenage bullies.
“It was evidence that they wanted to address and correct what the kids didn’t do, but not recognize or acknowledge the fact of what was done to Trent,” the family wrote in a statement posted on Lehrkamp’s GoFundMe page.
“At the end of the day, he was mistreated in inhumane ways. Trent was humiliated, being hosed in a chair and the joke of social media videos, and being taped to a chair and posed with in pictures: it is disgusting,” the outraged family wrote.
TRENT LEHRKAMP CASE: GEORGIA AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCE CHARGES AGAINST PARENTS, TEENS
Glynn County Interim Police Chief O’Neal Jackson III and District Attorney Keith Higgins announced at the press conference Monday that parents Lauren and James Strother, who owned the home where Lehrkamp was victimized, were arrested for maintaining a disorderly house and contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor.
GEORGIA TEEN SPEAKS OUT AFTER ALLEGED TORTURE BY GROUP OF BOYS LEAVES HIM HOSPITALIZED
Three teenagers were also arrested in connection to the Lehrkamp investigation – including 17-year-old Edward Rooker Hobby.
“He was not tortured,” Higgins said of Lehrkamp, addressing what he described as rampant online misinformation. “Trenton voluntarily drank alcohol until he passed out. No one forced alcohol down his throat or forced him to drink.”
The charges against the parents stem from a rowdy March 21 party at the Strothers’ St. Simons Island residence that left Lehrkamp so intoxicated, he could not breathe on his own and had to be placed on a ventilator at a nearby hospital.
Disturbing videos and photos soon emerged on social media that showed a group of teenagers appearing to abuse Lehrkamp at the same home.
“We don’t believe that confirming it wasn’t feces on him, urine on him, or no battery acid down his throat makes…
Read the full article here
