Teenager is handcuffed after falling asleep during court outing

• A Michigan judge defends his actions after he ordered a teenager to be handcuffed and put in a prison uniform after she was caught sleeping in his courtroom during a summer outing
• Judge Kenneth King also reportedly threatened the teenager with being sent to a youth detention center after criticizing her “attitude” on August 14.
• The teenager was reportedly “traumatized by the unnecessary disciplinary action and verbal abuse from the judge,” according to the nonprofit organization that organized the trip.

A judge in the US state of Michigan allegedly ordered a teenager to be handcuffed and put in a prison uniform after he fell asleep during a visit to a local court.

The 16-year-old girl was visiting Detroit’s 36th District Court as part of a field trip on Wednesday, August 14, when she nodded off in Judge Kenneth King’s courtroom, a spokesperson for The Greening of Detroit said in a statement provided to PEOPLE.

The nonprofit hosted the field trip to teach young people about the legal system, according to ABC affiliate WXYZ. The children were there to experience a real trial and speak to a judge in person when the incident occurred.

“Would you want someone to treat your child like that?” Latoreya Hill, the teen’s mother, told WXYZ after the incident. “Would you even treat your child like that?”

The judge “handcuffed her and made her wear a prison uniform and yelled at her for falling asleep in his courtroom,” said the spokesman for The Greening of Detroit.

“If you fall asleep in my courtroom again, I’m taking you to the back, got it?” King said, according to WXYZ. He also once said, “You sleep in your bed at home, not in the courtroom.”

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In a video that has since been removed from YouTube, King also threatened to send the teenager to a youth detention center “as a lesson,” according to the Detroit Free PressThe judge let the teens’ peers vote on whether that should be their fate, but ultimately let them go, WXYZ reported.

“Should I really have done that? Probably not. Could I have done it? Probably,” King told the station. “But that’s not what I want to do to a kid who’s there on a field trip.”

The Greening of Detroit spokesperson said it was “unfortunate” that King “made an example of a 16-year-old girl in front of her peers. Although the judge tried to give her respect, his methods were unacceptable,” they added.

The teen involved in the incident and her parents told The Greening of Detroit that she was “traumatized by the unnecessary disciplinary action and verbal abuse from the judge,” the spokesperson added.

“If he thought they were disrespectful, the group of students should have simply been asked to leave the courtroom,” the spokesman said.

Additionally, Hill told WXYZ that she and her family, including the teen, currently have no permanent residence. “How do you know my baby has a home? How do you know my baby has a bed, her own bed to sleep in?” the mother said. “She doesn’t have that right now, so she was tired.”

But King defended his actions, claiming he was “disturbed” by the teenager’s “attitude” and “disposition” in the courtroom that day. “I felt compelled to do this because I did not like the child’s attitude,” the judge explained. “I have not been treated with such disrespect in a long time.”

King also told WXYZ that he doesn’t believe he was being “harsh” toward the teen. “I’m going to do whatever it takes to reach out to these kids and make sure they don’t end up in front of me,” he said.

According to WXYZ, the teenager’s mother has since removed her daughter from the summer program where the trip took place.