The South Carolina teen girl who was recently assaulted by Richland County Deputy Ben Fields was already struggling emotionally before she was brutalized in an attack that has captured national attention.
The unidentified girl is currently living in foster car. Her foster mother spoke to Shaun King of the NY Daily News about how she has been since the assault, saying she is “devastated and emotionally traumatized by all that has happened to her.”
Attorney Todd Rutherford, who plans to represent the girl, said that he is outraged by what has happened to her.
“He weighs about 300 pounds,” Rutherford told WLTX. “She is a student who is 16 years old, who now has a cast on her arm, a band aid on her neck, and neck and back problems. There’s something wrong here.”
Rutherford also said that he intends to push back against laws that allow students to be arrested for “disturbing school.”
“We passed that law several years ago, and when we did arrests of students shot through the roof,” Rutherford said. “They were getting arrested for everything because it meets with the statute. The statute is unconstitutionally broad, and everyone knows it.”
Although Fields has since been fired and the girl’s case has garnered her nation-wide support, the school is likely to be an emotional minefield for this teenager for some time.