14-year-old sentenced as minor after being found guilty of raping classmate in Warren school

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – A 14-year-old boy was convicted of the brutal sexual assault of a fellow student inside Lincoln High School in Warren on Nov. 28, 2017.

Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer called it one of the most horrifying sex assault cases he'd ever seen.

"This is the saddest, most vicious case I've seen, the most violent case I've seen that's brutal, heinous, monstrous," said Dwyer.

Dwyer said after reviewing security camera footage of the attack, that Tolbert should be sentenced to life in prison. 

Khymani Jamal Tolbert was convicted of raping a 14-year-old freshman girl in a school stairwell. He was charged and tried as an adult, but that changed in court Wednesday. Judge Edward Servitto opted to sentence Tolbert to six years of juvenile detention.

Prosecutors argued that Tolbert was a danger. Local 4 uncovered his juvenile criminal past where his mother was warned he was a danger if he couldn't be brought under control. The documents revealed Tolbert was arrested in the summer of 2017 for larceny and curfew violations in Wayne County.

A juvenile judge wrote, "Parents have failed to address the respondent's dangerous and risk-taking activities placing the youth and others at risk of harm."

Pre-sentencing reports stressed Tolbert was likely to offend again and that he blames the victim.

In court, Tolbert apologized for his actions.

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About the Authors

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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