Shakespeare said it: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And a Goretti girl flashed?
Better put your cleats on.
Thomas Simone couldn’t be prouder or happier. His two daughters, Kelly, 15, and Janine, 16, were among the now-infamous gang of schoolgirls who decided to take justice into their own hands and beat up a man wanted for indecent exposure.
"I always taught them to defend themselves since they were young — and they did," Simone said. "The guy’s flashing them for a month and nobody caught him."
The Simone girls, both students at St. Maria Goretti High School, were among 13 females the suspect allegedly flashed since Sept. 14, said Inspector Bill Colarulo of the Police Public Affairs Unit. Another Goretti student also was a victim.
All of the incidents occurred near the school at 10th and Moore streets, the inspector said.
"How much is a 14-year-old girl supposed to take every day going to school and getting flashed by a male adult?" posed Colarulo.
None of the girls was charged with assault for their roles in the suspect’s beating last week. Quite the opposite, they received local accolades — from the mayor and the governor — and national attention, including an appearance this week on Good Morning America.
Five Goretti students, including the two Simone sisters, were walking home from school last Thursday when they spotted the man they recognized as the flasher.
The suspect, identified as Rudy Susanto, 25, from the 1900 block of South Broad Street, allegedly exposed himself to two other women prior to getting caught, Colarulo said.
Two store owners who witnessed the indecent assaults ran after the suspect and subdued him, said the inspector.
Details about what happened next are sketchy. Police say Susanto broke free, and that’s when the Goretti girls ambushed and attacked him. Other reports stated the merchants held Susanto down while the girls — 15 to 20 of them — assaulted him.
According to Simone, it was his daughter Kelly who kicked the offender in the face — knocking out a couple of his teeth and bruising his eye. His daughter Janine joined in the attack, he said. The other girls in their group were identified in published reports as Stephanie Kapovic, 15; Caitlin Dalin, 14; and Dorothy Kopicko, 15.
Simone was quick to point out that his girls are good kids who never get into trouble — and the same goes for their friends.
"It’s just that they had it. Kelly and her friends were petrified [of this guy], and she snapped," he said.
As far as Simone is concerned, his daughters were just defending themselves because, once the suspect was knocked to the ground, he allegedly grabbed Kelly’s leg and at some point brandished a pocket knife, he said.
The Goretti students told police Susanto had a knife, according to Colarulo.
Susanto was treated for minor mouth injuries at St. Agnes Medical Center and then escorted to the Special Victims Unit, police said.
The suspect is charged with multiple counts of corrupting the morals of a minor, open lewdness, stalking and disorderly conduct, Colarulo said.
Meanwhile, the Goretti girls have been rewarded for what many have termed heroism. At the annual "Taste of South Philly" fundraiser for the school Monday evening at the Wachovia Center, Mayor Street, District Attorney Lynne Abraham and Gov. Rendell honored the five students with Liberty Bell awards.
But not everyone thinks the self-administered justice was a smart or brave move. One of those concerned about the students’ actions is Goretti president Rita Frey, herself an alumna of the school.
"Obviously as president of the school, I have a duty and responsibility to provide a safe environment. I don’t condone what they did. I feel it was dangerous. We have many impressionable young ladies. This time, it turned out nobody was hurt, but we don’t know if that’s always going to be the case," she said.
Frey added that she’s baffled by the media frenzy surrounding the incident. Good Morning America contacted her to see about getting the girls to appear. When Frey didn’t comply, the morning show "circumvented" her and went directly to the students’ parents to book Monday’s appearance, she said.
The story also made CNN and The Howard Stern Radio Show, among others. Can a book deal and a Lifetime Television movie be far behind?
