➤ABEL CEDENO SENTENCED, from p.4
city anti-bullying laws.
Cedeno and his mother, Luz
Hernandez, complained repeatedly
about the bullying he endured. But
Cedeno told therapists that while
he was regularly taunted as a “faggot”
and “girl” in his classes and
was getting his long hair pulled, no
teacher or counselor ever did anything
to stop it.
According to a report to the judge
by Friends of the Island Academy,
a Rikers-associated youth
re-entry program where Cedeno
was getting help while out on bail,
he told that group he “learned to
take a hit” and “was grateful that
no bones were broken.” His school
counselor, identifi ed as Mr. Ray,
“told Abel and his mother to ‘ignore
it’ the bullying, ‘that’s how boys
are,’ and ‘be smarter than them.’”
As the report said, “Not only was
that bad advice, but against state,
federal, and local laws.”
Another counselor at the school,
identifi ed as Mr. Keating in the report,
“told Abel to ‘be strong,’ however
Abel noted that Mr. Keating
did not know how to address the
bullying in an effective way. Students
began targeting Mr. Keating
and Abel, spreading rumors that
Abel was dating Mr. Keating and
detailing made-up stories of sexual
contact between Abel and his
teacher… Abel noted that even the
‘teachers at the school were afraid
of other bullies.’”
As Gay City News reported,
Cedeno essentially dropped out of
school for a year before trying to return
to school to fi nish. He and his
family begged the DOE’s District
Offi ce for a transfer out of Wildlife
Conservation on three occasions,
but the DOE rep told Abel’s stepfather,
“Abel belongs in Wildlife and
we cannot change it.” One “good”
thing coming out of this enormous
tragedy is that the DOE now says
it will transfer students when they
feel unsafe in school.
Cedeno’s traumas led him to
start trying to take his life in ninth
grade, and he suffered from suicide
ideation even when out on bail and
getting help — to the point that he
was hospitalized by his family. His
psychiatrist at Rikers diagnosed
him with PTSD and depression.
Despite all of his trauma, Cedeno
is reported to have made great
progress in working toward his
high school diploma and gaining
skills toward a trade. Friends of
Island Academy told the judge in
a letter that “he understands the
gravity of the situation he fi nds
himself in,” but that “nothing in
Abel’s record indicates that he is
a fl ight risk or that he would not
complete any community program
to protect and better his future.”
Pleas for Youthful Offender status
for Cedeno were sent from
Councilmembers Dromm and Ruben
Diaz, Sr., State Assemblymember
Daniel O’Donnell, the Department
of Correction’s own Division
of Youthful Offender Programming,
former State Senator Tom Duane,
the New York City Anti-Violence
Project, the Callen-Lorde Community
Health Center, the youthled
advocacy group FIERCE, and
the Fortune Society, a group that
works with ex-offenders that wrote
it would accept Cedeno “as a voluntary
or mandatory participant”
in its programs. Justice Gross rejected
their arguments.
Out gay civil rights attorney
Thomas Shanahan, who will
amend his civil suit against the
city on Cedeno’s behalf, said he
was “stunned” by the sentence.
Lynn said the message to bullied
kids is “you’re on your own.”
Shanahan and Lynn said there
are grounds for appeal, especially
due to evidence that Gross excluded
in the trial about gangs at
the school and the pervasive bullying.
They expect all this to come
out in the civil suits. Shanahan
agreed with the judge that “kids
should have the right to be safe in
school,” but it seems to have taken
the death of one student, the disabling
of another, and the ruin of
Abel Cedeno’s life to wake the DOE
up to this fact.
In a statement after the sentencing,
the Anti-Violence Project
wrote, “From an early age, Abel
was bullied by classmates for being
gay and school offi cials failed
to address or end the bullying. The
inaction of the NYC Department of
Education created a climate of increased
bullying and lack of safety
for Abel and led to the tragic altercation
that injured Ariane Laboy
and took the life of Matthew Mc-
Cree.”
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