A Virgin Islands Superior Court judge Wednesday gave Caleave Mascall Jr. a two-year, one-month suspended prison sentence and three years of supervised probation for his role in an attack on a St. Croix bus driver last October.
“The key to the jail cell is in your hands,” Judge Ernest Morris Jr. cautioned Mascall after sentencing Wednesday afternoon. Morris said Mascall could serve the remainder of his sentence in prison if he failed to adhere to the court’s terms, which also included completing 40 hours of community service, paying $250 in restitution to school bus contractor Abramson Enterprises, maintaining employment and attaining a high school diploma.
Mascall was one of three students arrested in the aftermath of the attack, which the V.I. Education Department and Police Department said left the driver with serious injuries to the back of his head and face. The bus itself was also damaged, and a video of the assault was shared widely on social media at the time.
Mascall was the only legal adult at the time of the arrests and was initially charged with third-degree assault, damaging or tampering with a vehicle and disturbance of the peace. He agreed to plead guilty to the assault charge in January. The other two students — both minors — were arrested, charged and released to their parents pending juvenile court proceedings.
On Wednesday, Mascall expressed contrition for his actions and told the court that he had acted under peer pressure in October. Morris acknowledged that Mascall was the only one of the three to be charged as an adult.
“That’s why you’re here before me today and somebody else isn’t,” he said.
Attorney Howard Phillips, who filled in for attorney Carol Camp in representing Mascall Wednesday, called Mascall a nice kid in a bad circumstance and told the Source he was happy with the result.
“Thirty-seven twelve is designed for people like him,” Phillips said, referring to the section of the V.I. Code pertaining to first-time offenders under the age of 21 who are convicted of nonlife offenses. That section offers a possibility of expungement after five years if the guilty party maintains a clean record. “So I’m really happy we got that.”
