Stephanie Sebby-Strempel, 38, of Summerville, South Carolina, avoided going to trial on charges filed against her in June of this year when she struck a black 15-year-old for being in a public pool.
It appears she made the right choice. A video-gone-viral showed her yelling at and then striking Darshaun “DJ” RocQuemore Simmons at the Reminisce community pool, where DJ and two other friends had been invited. The physical attack was accompanied by racial slurs aimed at both DJ and his friends. It’s pretty hard to deny that kind of evidence.
Instead of taking her chances with a jury, Sebby-Strempel– dubbed “Pool Patrol Paula by the media– decided to plead guilty to third-degree misdemeanor assault for the attack on the teen. For her trouble the judge fined her the meager sum of $1,000, then gave her ten days to pay.
The judge may have let her off easy, but her employer didn’t cut her any slack. She lost her job at a multi-level marketing company, and her face has been plastered all over the internet for her bigotted and racist behavior.
There may be some consolation for the family in her nation-wide shaming because as the Washington Post reported in September, Sebby-Strempel actually didn’t face much shaming around her neighborhood. Typically, many of her neighbors took her side. None of the adults at the pool that day did anything to stop Sebby-Strempel’s violent attack on three teenaged boys.
DJ’s family told local media they are satisfied with the outcome, and the teen has moved on, none the worse for wear after his encounter with Ms. Sebby-Strempel.
