St. Paul teen gets house arrest for attack on Central High teacher

The 16-year-old boy who attacked and injured a teacher at St. Paul Central High School last month was sentenced Tuesday morning to 90 days of supervision and electronic home monitoring.

Judge James H. Clark sentenced the boy for third-degree felony assault on a school official, fourth degree assault and obstruction of the legal process for the assault during the school day that left science teacher John Ekblad with a traumatic brain injury. He was also sentenced to 150 hours community service.

MPR News does not typically name minors charged with a crime unless they're certified to be tried as adults. The teen pleaded guilty to the juvenile charges last month.

Clark said the boy exercised "poor judgement."

"That's what juveniles usually do, they do dumb things," he said. "[They have] poor impulse control."

Clark said the boy must also go to school and pay restitution for medical expenses of the victims that aren't covered by health insurance. The boy has also been ordered to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy and aggression replacement therapy.

Prosecutors had asked that the teen receive treatment in a facility away from his family, but Clark agreed with county probation officials who recommended that he remain in his home while receiving treatment.

Ekblad was attacked by the boy on Dec. 3 while trying to break up a fight in the Central High School cafeteria. Witnesses told investigators that the student lifted Ekblad by the neck and slammed him to the table and ground. They said the student also choked and punched Ekblad, who police said was knocked unconscious for between 10 and 20 seconds.

The teacher suffered a traumatic brain injury and other injuries during the attack. In a victim statement by Ekblad read during Tuesday's hearing, the teacher asked that the boy be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. He said he's afraid the injuries will be permanent, and will interfere with his ability to teach and coach.

Ekblad announced a lawsuit against St. Paul Public Schools late last month for failing to provide a safe working environment.

Assistant principal Mark Krois said in another victim impact statement that the attack was the worst violence he's seen in 25 years of working in schools. He said the boy's attack on Ekblad definitely had "malicious intent to do injury." Central High School Principal Mary Mackbee said in her own statement that the attack sent the message to the public that students are out of control and that public schools in the city are not safe.

The boy's parents told the judge during the hearing that he was a "good boy." His father said that the boy is remorseful and that they'd been trying to guide him to better behavior. He promised that the boy would make an academic "comeback" to increase his grades; a probation report put his GPA at 0.53.

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Jill Fedje had argued that the boy was a threat to the public because no one understood what triggered his violence. She said she was disappointed by the judge's decision to keep the boy with his family, who she said during the hearing saw the boy as the victim in the incident. The family declined further statement following the hearing.