When smartphone manufacturers started putting in great cameras and video capability into their devices, I think they had filming birthday parties, special events, etc., in mind. They even gave us the ability to share these videos with others so that everybody could enjoy them. Jaime Castano, a 20-year-old and former NYU student is being charged with setting an unnamed 19-year-old intoxicated female on fire, videotaping the event and then posting it to Snapchat. He is being held on $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash bail and Castano was arraigned on first-degree assault and reckless endangerment charges in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.
Castano told the police that he videotaped the young women with his cellphone “asleep in his bed with flames on her clothing while [he] sang, then showed her waking up and trying to put out the flames.” Authorities said the victim was left with “painful burns and scarring on her torso.”Apparently, the young girl, who had been drinking heavily before the incident didn’t really understand what had happened to her until she saw the video on Snapchat the next day. As the Daily News laid it out – the victim reported the incident to school officials shortly after it happened and Castano was expelled in September. However, his school waited until October to report the incident to the police and people are questioning the school why it took so long.
NYU spokesman, John Beckman, explained that the victim did not want to call the police and the university’s decision to get the police involved weighs heavily on how the victim wants to handle the situation. She eventually changed her mind and NYU then reported the crime. Beckman added, “In retrospect, at least when the facts became clear, this case clearly should have been reported to the police, notwithstanding the reluctance of the victim. We are conducting a full investigation as to how a different decision was made in this case and clarifying our decision-making process so that cases like this are reported to the police immediately in the future.”
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