BARTOW, Fla. — One of the eight teens accused of participating in the videotaped beating of a classmate has bonded out of jail, leaving just one behind bars Sunday, authorities said. Brittany Mayes, 17, was freed on $33,000 bond, said Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Scott Wilder. Still jailed is Stephen Schumaker, 18.
The teens, the youngest of whom is 14, face kidnapping and misdemeanor battery charges for the violent beating, which has been viewed widely on television and the Internet. The state attorney’s office has said the six girls and two boys will be tried as adults.
One of the accused was bailed out by employees of the “Dr. Phil” television show over the weekend. In an e-mail Saturday night, Terri Corigliano, a spokeswoman for host Phil McGraw, wrote that “certain staff members went beyond our guidelines” in paying the bond.
