The Latest Rage - Videotaped Beatings

YouTube is a phenomenon and I've been able to put it to good use. The Crimson River Quartet videos I put up in January now have nearly 30,000 views and my daughter's flute and piccolo videos (one example can be seen in the right sidebar) have pulled in somewhere around 3,000 views. I've also used it for some videoblogs, and when used properly, the service is a pretty handy way to get a little free publicity.

However, some kids have taken to videotaping their stupidity (and often their crimes) and putting them up on the free service for all, including the cops, to see:

CLARKSVILLE, Indiana — A group of middle school girls videotaped the beating of a 12-year-old schoolmate and posted it on the Internet in an attack that authorities believe was inspired by a similar one in Florida, police said.

No charges have been filed and police said they have not yet interviewed all the girls, ages 12-14, who are students at Clarksville Middle School in Indiana. The girls' identities were not released because they are juveniles.

The victim, who was treated for cuts and bruises at a hospital, was the daughter of a police officer, said Police Chief Dwight Ingle.

Police said the girls lured the victim to a parking lot near a warehouse in the town just north of Louisville, Kentucky, on April 12 and beat her up. The violence was videotaped and later posted on the video-sharing Web site PhotoBucket, Ingle said. It has since been removed.

The video begins with one girl arguing with the victim and escalates into a fight during which the 12-year-old is repeatedly hit in the head as other girls watch and laugh, police said.

Detective Darrell Rayborn said Thursday that police believe the plot was inspired by a similar scheme in which a group of teenage girls in central Florida posted the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old victim online. Parts of that video have been widely seen on TV and Youtube.

If this plot was inspired by the Florida beating, these kids are especially stupid because the Florida case has been in the news quite a bit as he perps are facing numerous felony charges. What did they think was going to happen when they put their idiocy up on the net?