Parents of accused Hardyston Township bully break long silence

HARDYSTON-The parents of one of three boys alleged to have inflicted physical and emotional trauma through their bullying of a fellow Hardyston Middle School student during months of bullying have broken weeks of of silence to defend their son. "There are two sides to the story," the family's attorney, Joseph Ragno, told The Advertiser-News this week. "Based on the information I have obtained, it appears to me that the behavior here was a mutual issue between the young man who claimed he was being bullied and numerous other people. "There were certainly childish antics, but it was by all parties involved, including the young man who claims he was being bullied." (As there are juvenile charges involved, The Advertiser-News is not disclosing the names of the accused boys or their families. One family could not be contacted, a second has declined comment. Hardyston school officials have said they can not comment on a pending legal matter and, in any event, are prohibited by law from discussing disciplinary matters involving students.) Ragno, who is also Vernon Township's municipal attorney, referred to the alleged victim only by his initials, "M.F.," but his parents, John and Sue Faber, have identified him as the eldest of their five children, Michael. The boy is small in stature and suffers from a hearing impairment. His parents say the three accused boys began physically bullying him during a summer scouting trip and continued during the school year. They say the bullying was unchecked by school officials and culminated in Michael suffering a concussion and hearing loss when his head was slammed in a locker. Michael has since transferred to a private school, along with one of his sisters. The Fabers have filed juvenile complaints against two of the three boys and have notified parents of all the boys as well as the Hardyston Board of Education, and middle school Vice Principal Alex Roney of a pending lawsuit to recover the cost of Michael's tuition as well as other damages. "It appears their effort is to access the school district's funds," said Ragno. Ragno's client is charged with three juvenile offenses, the most serious relating to an incident at the scout camp in which the Fabers say Michael was intentionally pushed to the ground, causing him to strike his head on a rock and causing damage to an ear. The boy is not charged with being involved in the locker incident. "My client denies that he pushed him," said Ragno. "They were playing a game called Ultimate Frisbee. The child was tackled as part of the game. No one saw him hit a rock and we do not believe there was a rock. "They allege it was an effort to injure, which we deny. There were other people involved. There were witnesses," he continued. The mother said that the Fabers' charges, which have aired in all local media as well as on a segment of WCBS-TV's "Shame on You" feature, have put enormous stress on her family and her son. "I feel they have utilized the media to bully all of us and to make accusations that they have exploded out of all proportion," she said. "It's been very harmful to all our children. As adults, they should not be allowed to hurt children this way." One of the charges against the woman's son is that in school he repeatedly stepped on the back of Michael Faber's shoes, at one time almost causing him to fall down a flight of stairs. The practice is known as "giving a flat." "This is a fairly common practice among young people," Ragno said. "The plaintiff has done similar things himself. My client absolutely denies intending to injure anyone." Ragno said that the juvenile complaint is making its way through Family Court. He said if the charges were as serious as the Fabers claim, they would have been filed by Hardyston Police. The Fabers have said that the township police declined to file charges, so the Fabers swore out the complaints themselves. "The charges were filed by a private citizen and not by the police," said Ragno. "That's an important decision. It appears this use of the criminal courts may be an effort to obtain civil relief. That's really what appears to be at the foundation of this matter." Ragno did not excuse the behavior of any of the youths, including that of Michael Faber. "They were behaving in a manner that probably wasn't a good thing, but it doesn't rise to the level of bullying. In my opinion, there's not an assault." Sue Faber referred to Ragno's earlier characterization of the incidents involving the three youths and her son as "childish antics." "In the first and second grade, they could be called childish antics," she said. "At the age of 13, they are young adults. "If these antics continue and rise to the level of personal injury, they are no longer childish antics, but criminal behavior." Her husband, John, has said that when he moved to Hardyston from Bergen County, he never thought he'd be suing the school board. "I never thought I'd sue anybody," he said. The board of education and school administrators say that all appropriate procedures were followed after each of the Fabers' complaints. They also say the district participates in more than a dozen programs aimed at combatting bullying. At last week's board of education meeting, Interim Superintendent Raymond Nazzaro told the board that he and other administrators would draw up specific guidelines that building administrators will have to follow when dealing with future disciplinary problems.