On Monday, April 17, Georgia law enforcement announced charges against five individuals in connection to the Trent Lehrkamp incident in March. Trent was hospitalized for days after an alleged hazing incident at a house party on Saint Simons Island left him on a ventilator.
However, officials stressed that the charges against the individuals do not directly stem from the incident related to Georgia teen Trent Lehrkamp as officials said that the media depiction of the events that led to his hospitalization was exaggerated.
In a press briefing on Monday, police said they have charged five people, including the owners of the Saint Simons Island home, James Carlton Strother (46) and his wife, Lauren Strother (57). The couple was arrested for allowing booze-fueled teenage parties to transpire in their residence.
As per WSAV, James and his wife, Lauren, were booked into jail on misdemeanor charges that included maintaining a disorderly house and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Officials announced that 17-year-old Edward Rooker Hobby was seen in a now-viral photo of Trent Lehrkamp. Hobby was charged with battery in connection to a separate incident involving another teen who told police Hobby had allegedly shot her at close range with a toy Orbeez gun during a house party. The girl's mother reportedly called in the report days after Trent Lehrkamp was rendered immobile after a booze-fuelled house party. Police said two juveniles are also facing misdemeanor charges but will remain unnamed due to their age.
Officials allege Trent Lehrkamp was not a victim of a hazing incident
On Monday, while announcing the charges against the five people, police said that the initial reports that Trent Lehrkamp was the victim of a hazing incident were inaccurate.
As previously reported on March 21, following a drunken party at the Saint Simons Island home, an unresponsive Trent Lehrkamp was dropped at a hospital by Edward Rooker Hobby after the teen passed out from high blood alcohol content in his system.
Initially, based on multiple reports, it was widely circulated that Lehrkamp was covered in spray paint and smelled of urine after he was left at the hospital. A preliminary police report and Lehrkamp's GoFundMe page suggested that the teen was the victim of a hazing incident. A previous video of Lehrkamp being hosed with a pipe while tied to a chair only contributed to the rhetoric being spun in the media.
However, as per the New York Post, Glynn County, Georgia, District Attorney Keith Higgins told reporters on Monday that Lehrkamp “was not tortured." He said:
"On March 21…Trent voluntarily drank alcohol until he blacked out. No one poured alcohol down his throat or forced him to drink. No one pushed a funnel down his throat."He added:
“No one urinated on Trent Lehrkamp. No one defecated on Trent Lehrkamp either.”Higgins stressed that Lehrkap consented to the events that transpired on the night of the party and was also a willing participant in the video that showed him being hosed down by Edward Rooker Hobby. Detailing the incident, Higgins said Trent “consented to be washed off with a hose” after he voluntarily engaged in an egg fight.
Higgins also clarified that Hobby and the other two juveniles did not just "dump" the teen at the hospital after he was rendered unresponsive due to excessive alcohol consumption.
“Rooker Hobby and the juveniles that accompanied him just didn’t drop him off at the outside. They went inside, got medical personnel to come outside and take him in so that he could get the medical care that he needed. They then left their correct names and telephone numbers before leaving.”Higgins added that the misinformation surrounding the case led to a delay in announcing charges against individuals, noting that 17-year-old Hobby and two unnamed juveniles faced charges related to that night, though not for their actions towards Lehrkamp.
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