Teens Admit They Terrorized Student

Teenagers on trial in Germany for abusing and humiliating a fellow student and videotaping the acts on Wednesday admitted to having committed the crimes. Ten of the 11 students on trial at a youth offender court in the northern city of Hildesheim confessed to having tormented the student for months at a time. All 11 students offered their hand to the 18-year-old victim in the courtroom, asking for his forgiveness. An entire class of the Werner von Siemens Vocational School is being tried for bullying the male student in 26 different instances between November 2003 and January 2004. In the attacks, they beat and kicked the student and forced him to eat chalk, chew on cigarette butts and show his genitals, prosecutors said. Some of the attacks were videotaped and later distributed on the Internet, drawing outrage across Germany and fueling a debate over abuse in classrooms.