Staff report
news@wbcowqel.com

Three teenage girls have been charged in connection with the backyard fight in Galion that left another teen hospitalized last week.

Crawford County Prosecutor Matthew Crall announced in a press release Wednesday afternoon that one 15-year-old and two 16-year-old girls have been charged with felonious assault stemming from the incident. The crimes will be filed as delinquency charges due to the fact that the three girls are juveniles.

If the crime had been committed by an adult, it would rank as a second-degree felony.

“Felonious assault charges require serious physical harm,” Crall said in his press release. “Despite the allegation of serious physical harm, these charges are not eligible under Ohio law to be bound over to Common Pleas Court for adult charges.”

The Galion police were first notified of the fight hours after the incident occurred on Payne Avenue on March 2. The fight was reported to the police by an adult who was shown a video taken of the fight. The three girls were seen repeatedly kicking and beating the 16-year-old victim after she was knocked to the ground. The injured girl was later flown by medical helicopter to Nationwide Children’s Hospital after suffering from multiple internal injuries.

“Several unfounded and/or unprovable allegations have been in social media which will not result in criminal charges at this time,” Crall said. “Juvenile Court records are exceptions from the public records law. However, non-court records are not specifically exempted from public records law solely because the charged party is under the age of majority. The Galion Police Department continues to investigate this case and additional charges may be forthcoming if appropriate.”

Concerned citizens have since formed a group to help combat what they saw as continual bullying in the community. The group, W.A.G. (We Are Galion) Your Tail, announced at Tuesday night’s Galion City Council meeting that it would help to create environments that allowed kids suffering from bullying to go to find support.

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