5 Charged in Sick Ice-Bucket Prank on Autistic Boy

The five Ohio teens accused of dousing an autistic classmate with urine, spit, and tobacco in a disgusting version of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge have been charged. The Bay Village High School students, all between the ages of 14 and 16, were hit yesterday with the juvenile equivalent of disorderly conduct charges; three of them were also charged with misdemeanor assault, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Penalties could range from probation, home detention, or community service to serving time in a juvenile detention facility.

The alleged perpetrators, who were not named by the Plain Dealer, are "friends [who] regularly associate with one another and, at times, engage in distasteful and sophomoric pranks," a prosecutor says in a press release. "However, this incident is clearly different. It crossed a moral and legal line, and even the five alleged perpetrators understand that and have expressed regret." The release says that the five teens were also friends with the victim, and that they "regularly socialized together"; the victim reportedly approves of the charges. An attorney for one of the accused teens tells the paper his client hopes to remain friends with the victim. (More ice bucket challenge stories.)