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	Gang Activity Brings Violence To MVHS

	by Rachel Brandes Moapa Valley Progress A female juvenile appeared in the Juvenile Court on Wednesday, January 2 to face charges stemming from a physical altercation that took place at Moapa Valley High School on November 14, 2007. Two juveniles were cited with misdemeanor Battery charges following the altercation. One of the juveniles appeared before Judge Lanny Waite and was sentenced for her actions during the January court calendar. The juvenile appeared in court with a parent and attorney. She is a senior at Moapa Valley High School. The victim in the case is a high school freshman. The juvenile admitted to the charge of Battery and proceeded to explain to the Judge the events leading to the altercation. As she explained it, it was simply a matter of name-calling gone too far. At that point, Metro Officers in the court spoke up and explained that this student is a member of a gang named the "PLK" or "Pink Ladies Krew". The officer explained that the "Krew" is basically a "wanna be" gang that has been intimidating and threatening other girls at the high school. The juvenile admitted to being a member of the "PLK" and explained there are nine girls in the group that all attend the high school. She explained that this fight had its origins with a group of girls who were wearing "Pink Lady" jackets at Halloween. The juvenile explained that arguments had been taking place through MySpace.com and that threats had been made. The victim's parents spoke before the Judge and explained that their daughter was a friend of the sister of a "PLK" member and was trying to stop the fighting from taking place and that she had received a threat that she would be attacked on that Wednesday. The victim went to school as normal that day and was approached by this group of girls who proceeded to physically attack her. Not only did they plan this attack out by making the threat to do so on the Internet but they had a video camera taping the entire interaction. Following this premeditated attack, the video appeared on YouTube.com for all the world to view. In the video one can see the entire altercation take place. The video essentially sealed the fate of the girls making the attack. After police viewed the video they were able to issue citations to the girls that had committed battery. Judge Waite was unable to view the video prior to pleas being entered by both defendants. As the second defendant will not appear in court until the February calendar, he will be unaware of the details on the video until that time. Waite has taken a tough stand on gang involvement during juvenile court. He explained in court that he will not stand for gang violence in Moapa Valley and proceeded to hand down a tough punishment. After hearing all parties involved, Waite ordered the following punishment for the juvenile: Six months formal probation, 120 hours of community service, 60 hours to be dismissed if grades are all raised to A's and B's, attend and complete the Coroners Youth Program, drivers license not to be issued during probationary period, no contact or association with victim, victims family or anyone in the "PLK", mandatory school attendance with no unexcused absences, letters of apology to be written to the victim as well as the community to be published in the newspaper, in addition the defendant is to bake a dozen cookies to hand deliver to the victim with a personal apology supervised by parole officer. She must maintain current employment, is allowed no Internet access, curfew to be determined by parents and parole officer, she is not allowed to wear the color pink for duration of probation, and will have weekly meetings with her parole officer. It was made clear to the defendant that her involvement in the "PLK" would have serious negative impact on her life. It was explained to her that this path can only lead to more trouble.