The Cape Cod teenager who pleaded guilty to the attempted drowning of a black peer in a pond while spewing racial slurs escaped jail time during his sentencing Wednesday.
Chatham, Mass. resident John Sheeran, 15, will serve probation and around 700 hours of community service after he copped to attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon charges in December, his lawyer confirmed to The Post in an interview.
He will also be required to attend an online educational class and write an apology letter to the victim. If he reoffends before Feb 4, 2028, he could be taken into custody.
Sheeran, who is white, and another teen boy threw rocks at the victim before Sheeran, the victim and the third teen all went into a pond in July 2023, prosecutors said.
The victim, who had a lifejacket on because he didn’t know how to swim, was forced underwater by Sheeran, according to the district attorney’s office.
He also was accused of calling him the n-word as the third teen allegedly called the black boy “George Floyd” because he couldn’t breathe while laughing during the shocking incident, according to prosecutors.
Barnstable District Court Judge Sylvia Gomes insisted the sentence was a fair resolution.
“I cannot undo what happened, but hopefully this resolution will bring the community closure and comfort,” she said, according to the Cape Cod Times.
But Sheeran’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, slammed the case against his client, insisting the black teen wasn’t a victim while singling out Cape Cod District Attorney Robert Galibois.
He claimed the narrative against Sheeran was concocted by the victim who was playing the “race card.” He pointed out that his client and the victim were friends leading up to the episode at the pond.
He also referred to Galibois as the “puppet master,” accusing him of directing police to charge Sheeran.
“I question the justice system in this case significantly, but I’m very pleased with the probation,” Redding said.
Galibois’ office stood by its actions in a statement to The Post.
“We appreciate the Court eloquently and succinctly rejecting the defense attorney’s inflammatory and headline-grabbing characterizations. We agree with the Court’s observation that politics did not play a role in this case,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
“We further agree with the Court’s announcement that this was not a matter of horse play but a criminal act. We also appreciate the Court applying the facts of this case to the charges at hand and rendering a fair disposition to all parties.”
The founder of Amplify POC Cape Cod, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating the racial wealth gap in the region, however, slammed the punishment leveled against the teen.
“This perpetrator is getting off easy because of his white skin and privilege,” Tara Vargas Wallace told the Cape Cod Times. “He gets to go home. Meanwhile, the victim in this case is scarred for life.”
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