5 youths plead guilty in 2024 swarming of 13-year-old girl in Kelowna, B.C.

Prosecutors say five youths involved in a violent swarming of a 13-year-old girl in Kelowna, B.C., last year have entered guilty pleas.

Video captured the swarming of the girl last September at Gyro Beach on Okanagan Lake, where police said about 30 people were present.

The video shows a girl grabbing the victim and shoving her to the ground before another punches her several times about the head, while others in the crowd kick at the girl, then laugh as she lies immobile on the ground.

Damienne Darby, a spokeswoman for the B.C. Prosecution Service, says one young person pleaded guilty to one count of assault in January and was handed a sentence of two years' probation in April.

Darby says four other young people have since entered guilty pleas to the same charge, with court appearances scheduled in June and July.

WATCH | Video of violent Kelowna attack circulated on social media: 

Kelowna, B.C., RCMP investigate violent attack on teen girl widely shared on video

7 months ago

Duration 2:04

RCMP in the Okanagan are investigating a violent and public attack on a teen girl. As Brady Strachan reports, it happened Friday in a Kelowna park. Video of the incident has been circulating in the community.

Kelowna RCMP said at the time there had been 41 reported incidents of youth violence in 2023, an increase from 16 in 2022

The offenders cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.