Adriana Kuch: Teen attacker hit with additional charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault

One of four girls accused of brutally attacking a New Jersey teen who later committed suicide is facing a conspiracy to commit aggravated assault charge on top of a previous harassment charge.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a statement Thursday that one of the four teen girls who allegedly participated in an attack on Adriana Kuch, 14, just days before her death is facing the additional charge. 

Video of the February 1 beating was posted online and led to additional harassment and bullying for Kuch, who was just one month from celebrating her birthday. 

As of Thursday, one teen has been charged with aggravated assault and three have been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. 

The students, who are not being named due to their young age, would be facing third-degree crimes if tried as adults which could result in up to five years in prison and thousands in fines. 

Adriana Kuch, 14, took her own life on February 3, two days after she was brutally attacked in the hallway at Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, New Jersey 

Adriana Kuch, attended Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, and was found dead at her home two days after the shocking video surfaced on Feb 1, said police 

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer has confirmed the additional charge for one of the four teens accused of viscously attacking Adriana Kuch

On top of the charges they face, all four teens have been suspended indefinitely from Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township, New Jersey. 

In a recent interview with FOX News, Adriana’s father, Michael Kuch, said he is intent on making sure the students responsible for the attack are punished. 

‘I want laws put in place that these kids are prosecuted for making, posting, and sharing these videos,’ Michael said. 

‘I would love it if these kids were not even allowed to have a phone in school. I mean, that would stop this because there’s a culture where these kids think it’s fun,’ the grieving father said. 

The video the father is speaking of shows Adriana and a friend walking down the hallway before a girl walks up and begins hitting her in the face with a water bottle.

Adriana falls to the ground and is repeatedly punched and kicked by a group of students as cheering is heard.   

Eventually, two school workers stepped in and stopped the unprovoked attack.

‘These 4 girls planned and executed an attack. If you watch the videos I have, they are laughing while talking about what they are going to do at the start of the video,’ he said. 

The father posted a message along with grabs of the video to his Facebook page. 

Michael said his daughter faced bullying for months before the video was taken. 

‘I do know why it happened. It happened because these two haven’t liked each other for a couple years, and she had been threatening my daughter online,’ he stated.

The death Adriana Kuch, 14, has left a New Jersey community in shock and has led to accusations against Central Regional School District for ignoring bullying

Adriana killed herself sometime after 10.46pm on February 2

According to her father Kuch was ‘smashed in the face three times with a water bottle’ and ‘blacked out.’ He then had to take his blood covered daughter to the police station to file a report because the school refused to do so

Adriana’s bruised legs after the attack. Her father said she was mostly ‘humiliated’ by the video, which made her feel like she’d been attacked ‘twice’ 

One of the girls involved in the attack posted these heartless messages on Snapchat. Adriana’s father said: ‘It used to be you’d go to school, get bullied and then you left. But now you come home and you keep getting bullied – they still keep picking at you home.’

Michael Kuch, shown here at his daughter’s visitation, told DailyMail.com that he in discussions with a family lawyer regarding the family’s next legal steps

Michael Kuch speaking to DailyMail.com outside of his daughter’s visitation 

Just last week, DailyMail.com reported on several students coming forward to allege how taunting and intimidation was rife in classrooms and hallways.

Multiple pupils from Central Regional School District say that bullying was part of everyday life at the school. 

Critics, including Adriana’s former classmate Emily Strick, are blaming the school district for neglecting and inadequately addressing such incidents. 

‘It was absolutely terrible and it was unbelievable that they didn’t do anything about it’, Strick told Fox News last week.

Emily said that at one stage the bullying got so bad she was afraid to go to her classes.

‘I didn’t go to school for a full week because in Central you could get jumped very easily. I didn’t want to go. I was terrified. There were rumors and everything you can imagine. I’m not sure if the bullies got punished, but I’m pretty sure they did not.’ 

Emily’s mother, Jo Siclari, explained how despite efforts to alert the school, the district, and the police, no action appeared to have been taken.

‘I went to the school and went to the police and file reports. I wrote letters to the Board of Education and the superintendent. I sent everything certified actually, at the advice of Diane Grossman, who created Mallory’s Law after her daughter committed suicide, and I got no response,’ Siclari told Fox.

‘It makes me very angry. I mean, sending our children to school every day should not be a liability, and they’re the people that are there. We’re not there as parents, so we expect them to be our stand-ins when they have our children in the building.

‘They won’t tell us if the bullies got punished or not.’ 

The school district has had issues with bullying in the past, it has been revealed, as parents and students continue to come forward detailing how they or their loved ones were bullied at the high school, where they say the administration failed to act.

Several students, including Adriana’s former classmate Emily Strick say the school and district completely ignored and inadequately handled bullying issues. Emily’s mother, Jo Siclari, left, also tried to bring the matter to the attention of the school but to no avail

More than 200 students protested outside Central Regional High, demanding action over bullying which they believe is systemic across the school district

Students from the Central Regional High School were protesting on February 10 over the suicide of Adriana due to bullying

In reviews posted online from six years ago, students shared how they were ‘constantly bullied, and no one tried to stop it no matter what’

Amanda Ramirez, mother of Nevaeh Alvarez Ramirez a student who took part in a protest following Adrianna’s death told DailyMail.com as she mourned the loss of the ‘beautiful’ teen, she supports the students speaking out about the bullying. 

‘I 100 percent support her it’s just hard to watch these kids hurting they just want to be heard,’ she said.

She was appalled by the lack of sensitivity shown by the school saying there was ‘no moment of silence or assembly’ for the students or staff to process the horrific death.

‘It was just like swept under the rug they talk about how ‘oh if you’re fighting there will be consequences’ but a kid is gone because nobody did anything,’ she said.

‘The fact that she was beat up on school premises, she blacked out, that her parents weren’t called, that an ambulance wasn’t called… a kid blacked out that is a medical emergency.

‘Her hair was ripped out and on the floor like it’s just disgusting and I hurt because I have a lot of respect for teachers there, but hearing that some of them saying it ‘wasn’t a big deal’ that’s, uh, a lot it’s just mental health is so serious.’

Trisha Tucker, who had also been paying her respects at the visitation told DailyMail.com that her daughter had also been bullied at the school.

‘My daughter was being bullied from September/October and I’d been to the freshman principal numerous times told me that it was being handled, my daughter went from being an honor role student to dropping out of marching band to failing her classes and not even wanting to go to school,’ she said.

‘Now she’s cutting herself so yeah they don’t do a damn thing they don’t care about these kids they’re going to sweep it under the rug so they aren’t embarrassed.’

In response to the community’s concerns, the district released a statement, saying that they are evaluating all current and past allegations of bullying and will be undergoing an independent assessment of their anti-bullying policies.

Dr. Triantafilos Parlapanides, the former superintendent, also resigned follows a series of interviews that caught the attention of the school board including some with DailyMail.com. 

Dr. Triantafilos Parlapanides, the former superintendent, also resigned follows a series of interviews that caught the attention of the school board including some with DailyMail.com 

This is the email response Parlapanides provided to DailyMail.com when asked what counseling Adriana had been given. He claimed her ‘choices declined’, that her mother committed suicide ‘since her father had an affair’ 

In his interviews, Parlapanides made comments regarding Adriana’s behavior and possible drug use, which prompted action from the board.

‘The Central Regional School District Board of Education has accepted the resignation of Dr. Triantafillos Parlapanides,’ the board said in a statement on Saturday evening. 

‘The Central Regional family continues to mourn the loss of one of our children. We are all praying for the family and loved ones and our entire community. The Central Regional School District is evaluating all current and past allegations of bullying. 

‘The District has contacted the Department of Education and will undergo an independent assessment of the District’s anti-bullying policies and ensure every necessary safeguard is in place to protect our students and staff. Dr. Douglas Corbett is acting Superintendent effective immediately.’

Parlapanides told DailyMail.com personally, ‘Her father was having an affair at the end of her 6th grade. Her father married the woman he had an affair with and moved her into the house.’

He continued, ‘Her grades and choices declined in 7th and 8th grade. We offered her drug rehab and mental services on five occasions but the father refused every time.’ 

His comments sparked backlash from the community which led to his resignation.