17-year-old with autism going to prison for bringing gun to school
September 16, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
17-year-old Joshua Minks of Farmington, Missouri, was sentenced to eight years in prison for “committing assault on school property and unlawful use of a weapon,” as reported in today’s DailyJournalOnline.com (MO). Minks, who is reported to be mildly retarded and to have autism and seizures, brought a gun to Farmington High School on October 11, 2005. He has already served eleven months in the county jail and will have to spend at least four more months behind bars. Circuit Court Judge Kenneth W. Pratte will “consider releasing him on five years of supervised probation after he completes 120 days of ’shock incarceration.’”
Minks’ mother said that he heard voices on the day of the incident and that he had been “abused, tortured and bullied at school.”
Desperate kid brings gun for protection, probably not thinking very hard about what he’s doing, probably just scared… yeah, great idea, send him to jail.
I’d send the bullies to jail, if I were the judge. Making a stupid choice isn’t a crime; assaulting and harassing an autistic kid is.
I think it’s so ridiculous when people like you leave snooty, little comments like this. Don’t just say that the kid has autism and automatically feel bad for him. If he’s clearly okay enough to go to school and attend the same classes that everyone else does, then why should he get special treatment when he brings a shotgun to a school building? It would make no sense at all for him to bring a gun to school “for protection” because Farmington Senior High School is a calm and undramatic as a high school can get. It’s not like people bring guns to school all the time around here, so the one time that someone does, it is quite the big deal. Yes, sending him to prison, not jail, would be a great idea because he committed a crime, a very bad crime. How on Earth can you even think about not punishing someone who fires a gun in a school.
You’re right, making a stupid choice isn’t a crime, but when that stupid choice puts others lives in jeopardy, yes, it is a crime.