Wisconsin judge to hold juvenile court hearing in Slenderman case

[May 26, 2015]  MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday will begin a hearing on whether to move a trial from adult to juvenile court for one of the girls accused of stabbing her classmate 19 times to please Slenderman, a fictional Internet character.

The girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, who were both 12 at the time, were charged as adults with attempted first-degree homicide in the May 2014 attack on a classmate in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee.

Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren will hold a two-day hearing to determine if the case against Weier belongs in adult court. A similar hearing is scheduled for Geyser in June.

The girls face 60 years in prison if convicted in adult court on homicide charges. If convicted in juvenile court, the girls could be imprisoned up to age 25.
 

Wisconsin law requires cases to begin in adult court if they involve juvenile suspects at least 10 years old who are charged with first-degree attempted intentional homicide.

Prosecutors have said the girls lured their 12-year-old victim into the woods the morning after a sleepover and stabbed her 19 times with a kitchen knife to impress Slenderman, a tall fictional online bogeyman, according to authorities.

The girl, spent the summer after the attack going to doctor appointments and has been receiving therapy for emotional trauma as have members of her family, the family spokesman said. She recovered at home from the attack, he said.

The victim returned to school in the fall of 2014, the spokesman said.

Bohren ruled both girls were competent to stand trial in December.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Diane Craft)

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