Teen With Autism Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison After Attacking Teacher's Aide

An autistic teenager who was captured on surveillance video violently beating a teacher's aide after she took away his Nintendo game was sentenced to five years in prison and 15 years probation.

Brendan Depa was seen on surveillance footage beating the school staff member unconscious. It took four other staff members to pull the teen off the woman, who was left with multiple injuries.

Depa was tried as an adult and pleaded no contest to aggravated battery. He was sentenced Wednesday and it caused outrage.

Depa, who was 17 years old at the time of the attack in a Florida high school, is autistic and has several other disorders. His mother said he has the emotional maturity of a 6-year-old.

"I beg you to let him come home with me. I want my son back," Depa's adoptive mother told the judge.

The student's defense attorney pleaded with the judge not to send the teen to prison.

"He is disabled," the defense attorney said. "He can't navigate the world like you and I can."

The judge said the video showed a level of unprovoked brutality he could not ignore.

"It captures senseless, extreme violence," the judge said. "Mr. Depa has never expressed not even a single bit of remorse."

CourtTV's Julia Jenae was in the courtroom.

"There were many people who were shocked by the judge's decision. Many felt that this was a case of a person who should have been in a facility versus behind bars," Jenae tells Inside Edition.

After Depa's release, the judge ordered him to be committed to a group home.

Related Stories