7th District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen handed down some creative punishment to a 13-year-old defendant. The defendant, Kaytlen Lopan, along with an 11-year-old friend, befriended a 3-year-old toddler at a Utah McDonald’s. And then proceeded to cut off the small-child’s hair with a pair of scissors they the two girls had purchased at a nearby dollar store.
Sounds like malicious intent and premeditation to me. Judge Johansen offered to reduce the teen’s sentence by 150 hours of community service if Kaytlen’s mother, Valerie Bruno, would chop Kaytlen’s own ponytail off in his courtroom, as restitution. Ms. Bruno took the scissors offered to her by the court and cut Kaytlen’s hair off. She made the choice to do that.
No one forced Ms. Bruno to cut her daughter’s hair off. No one tricked her or held Kaytlen down as she forcibly had her hair cut off. Ms. Bruno simply thought that it would reduce her daughter’s sentence and so she complied with the court’s offer.
Ms. Bruno, however, did not consult Kaytlen, which may have been wise considering her age. Kaytlen’s original sentence was to serve 30 days in detention, pay restitution and serve 276 hours of community service. Now, Ms. Bruno has filed a formal complaint against Judge Johansen.
But really who is to blame? I think the judge did Kaytlen and society a huge favor. I feel like this kind of premeditated act with complete malicious intent to harm and humiliate puts Kaytlen on path whose next stop is killing small animals and ending up on America’s most wanted.
Destination: sociopath. She needs to be stopped. She needs to know that there are consequences for her actions.
Maybe there should be a complaint filed against the mothers involved in this case. Valerie Bruno obviously doesn’t have a handle on her teen. What about Mindy Moss, the mother of the three-year-old who was accosted? Where the hell was she when this was going on?
I don’t know about you but I NEVER let my three-year-old out of my sight at McDonald’s, ever. There are strangers everywhere, germs, choking hazards; it’s a slip and fall waiting to happen. So how was this tiny three-year-old out of her mother’s sight long enough to have a big chunk of her hair cut off?
Speaking of which, did Kaytlen’s mother or the mother of her 11-year-old accomplice, not even notice that their children had left the premises and walked to the dollar store to purchase the scissors? Who’s watching these kids?
I would not have chopped my daughter’s hair off before first asking her if she complied. I think since Kaytlen perpetrated the crime, she should have the option to pick her consequence, as one was offered. Either way, Kaytlen definitely needed to know that her actions have consequences.
A ponytail for a ponytail, that’s Old Testament justice but if Kaytlen can’t handle the consequences then maybe she should have not been running around town preying on poor unsuspecting toddlers. If Kaytlen had gotten away with this crime without punishment, it is hard to say how her sociopath behavior might have progressed.
Do you think the judge was out of line or was it restitution paid in part?
Photo Source: Kevin McGrew
