COLUMBIANA COUNTY Teen to be sentenced for beating in school

The teen originally was charged as a juvenile, but a judge ordered the case bound over to adult court.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A two-year prison sentence is recommended for a 16-year-old boy being tried as an adult in the beating of a schoolmate.
Tommy Hart of state Route 45, Leetonia, pleaded guilty Friday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court to felonious assault.
The second-degree felony carries a maximum prison sentence of eight years.
But assistant county Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones is recommending a two-year term in exchange for Hart's plea.
Judge C. Ashley Pike set sentencing for 11 a.m. Aug. 15.
Hart is in the county jail on $50,000 bond.
Beaten at high school
Nicholas Aratari, 14, of Leetonia was severely beaten Dec. 10 in a Leetonia High School locker room. He was hospitalized after the attack and has had to undergo reconstructive surgery to his face, authorities have said.
Hart originally was charged as a juvenile. But in March, Judge Thomas Baronzzi of county juvenile court ordered Hart's case bound over to adult court after a hearing that the judge said demonstrated Hart would not be amenable to rehabilitation in the juvenile court system.
Treatment for disorders
During the bind-over hearing, mental health professionals said Hart had undergone treatment beginning as early as kindergarten for various disorders, including depression, aggression and anti-social behavior.
In ordering Hart bound over, Judge Baronzzi said the boy's failure in mental health treatment was because he and his family didn't ensure that he completed the regimen.
Had Hart's case remained in juvenile court, he could have been held until he is 21.
Aratari's family recently filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Youngstown over Nicholas' beating.
The family is suing the village school district and its administrators for more than $5 million.