Teen Sentenced for Simi Hate Crime

A Granada Hills teenager was ordered Thursday to spend nine months in a Los Angeles County probation camp for participating in the assault on a black teenager in Simi Valley.

The 17-year-old, who was not identified because of his age, and three Simi Valley youths attacked Reseda resident Jim King, also 17, as he was selling newspaper subscriptions in a shopping center parking lot on Dec. 6.

The four white youths shouted racial epithets at King, chased him and then kicked and punched him when he fell to the ground, authorities said.

A search of the attackers’ homes uncovered skinhead and white power paraphernalia and hate literature downloaded from the Internet.

The youth, who turns 18 next month, is housed at Juvenile Hall in Sylmar and will be transferred to Camp Louis Routh in Tujunga.

He will undergo five hours of regular class instruction each weekday along with firefighting training at Routh, one of 19 juvenile camps operated by the Los Angeles County Probation Department.

“It’s a good program. It gives kids something to learn,” said Meredith Lester, the deputy public defender who represented the youth. “It’s more useful than straight detention time.”

Her client was ordered to receive anger management counseling and to take a sensitivity course through the Museum of Tolerance.

As a condition of probation, the youth can’t associate with skinheads or possess white supremacist or racially insensitive materials. Because the incident is considered a hate crime, he could remain on probation until he turns 25.

His accomplices -- two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old -- had their cases resolved earlier in separate Ventura County Superior Court hearings. The 16-year-old who instigated the beating was ordered into custody for nine months, while the other two must stay in Ventura County Juvenile Hall for eight months.

Although two of the Simi Valley boys have since apologized to their victim, the Granada Hills youth made no statement during Thursday’s hearing.

“He didn’t apologize to me, but I forgive him,” King said after the hearing. “I hope nine months is enough to rehabilitate him. The best thing is to get the hate out of your heart.”

Sheila Ford, King’s mother, said she and her son were relieved that the criminal proceedings were over.

“I hope these boys learn a lesson and never try this sort of thing again,” she said. “And I hope the parents learn a lesson as well and will do a better job of monitoring their juveniles.”