Florida Teen Who Assaulted Teacher Over Nintendo Switch Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison

Florida teen Brendan Depa was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday stemming from assaulting his teacher after she took away his Nintendo Switch during school hours.

Security footage of the incident quickly went viral on social media. Depa, who is now 18, can be seen beating paraprofessional Joan Naydich in a hallway at Matanzas High School last February. The video showed him repeatedly punching Naydich, even after she was knocked unconscious.

The 6’6, 270-pound teen was charged with felony aggravated battery. Circuit Judge Terence Perkins handed down the sentence, per The New York Post, and also sentenced Depa to 15 years of probation following his release to a group home. He noted that the teen had not displayed any remorse during the proceedings.

Depa pleaded no contest to the charges in October. The teen’s mother and defense attorney argued for leniency due to the fact that the teen has been diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder.

“They are punishing that he is black, they are punishing that he is large and they are punishing his disability,” Leanne Depa, the suspect’s adopted mother, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal of the sentencing. Leanne also blamed the school district.  

“I think he needs help, and I think he needs treatment. But I don’t think he needs to be put away in a prison where he’s going to be taken advantage of or harmed,” she said.

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“I had told the school that being hungry was a trigger, that noise was a trigger, that being told ‘no’ was a trigger, that being corrected in front of other people was a trigger, and electronics was a huge trigger,” Leanne continued.

Naydich spoke about the aftermath of the incident during a hearing in May, per The Post. 

“Brendan Depa’s actions that day has caused me to lose a job that I had for almost 19 years, lose my financial security, lose my health insurance,” she said.

The victim added, “Like everything was taken away from me that morning. At 10 o’clock that morning. Everything was taken away. My life will never be what it was before.”