Guilderland

The four Guilderland High School students who allegedly made a vulgar rap video that slings obscenities at other students have been charged with misdemeanors under Albany County's cyberbullying law.

The teens turned themselves in to Guilderland police without incident Thursday, Capt. Curtis Cox said.

Those charged with one count each of cyberbullying are: Michael K. Malone, 17; Giovanni D. Santoro, 16; Joshua A. Thompson, 16, and Parker J. Carmichael, 17. The high school juniors were not known previously by police, Cox said.

The charges come more than a week after the video was posted on YouTube on Veterans Day. The four were suspended by the school after officials deemed the audio clip to be bullying.

The four were released on appearance tickets for Town Court on Dec. 5.

The law makes cyberbullying an unclassified misdemeanor that could lead to up to a year in jail and $1,000.

Police on Thursday released a transcript of the song that is laced with vulgar language aimed at specific students, whose names were redacted, and at the sophomore class in general. The song, titled "Guilderland Sophomore Rap," was posted on YouTube for a day before it was taken down.

"Five sophomore girls together sounds like a slutfest," the lyrics read. "Only takes a minute of drinkin' to get 'em undressed."

"Class of 2016 is the bottom of the bottom for sure," reads another line.

The song ends with, "Stick around, boys and girls. There's more comin.' "

Cox said that on Nov. 11 police received a complaint from a resident about the video, and at least two sophomores have also made complaints, Cox said.

He said separate investigations by the school district and the police department's community services unit, which has a school resource officer, have ended.

At least one of the teens charged was identified because his name was used in the video, while the identities of the others were determined during the investigation.

Cox said he could not say what the motivation for the video was.

"The message here is bullying will not be tolerated," Cox said at an afternoon news conference. "It is a serious matter. People all across the country are suffering from psychological effects of being bullied and some have even committed suicide, and that speaks for itself. It makes it a very serious matter. And anyone that thinks that behavior such as this (is OK), and even going further and putting this on YouTube, something that goes world wide, that's a concern."

County Executive Dan McCoy said the Guilderland district is one of the most proactive against bullying, and that's why it was chosen to kick off Bullying Prevention Awareness Month in October, but even when people are proactive, incidents can still occur. "Guilderland bullying case a teachable moment for all," he said in a Twitter message.

McCoy said the county's Bullying Prevention Task Force is in place, but it still takes parents and students in addition to school districts and, in some cases, municipalities, to choose not to put up with bullying in order to bring about change.

"We would suggest to parents that they just try to be more vigilant in reviewing what their children are doing, having conversations with them about a situation like this (and) how something that, perhaps, these kids thought was a big joke, can transform into something that is extremely serious," Cox said. "That's the message we want to get out: How dangerous this is and how inappropriate it is."

The 2010 cyberbullying law was first used in June 2011 against a Cohoes teen was charged with 10 counts each of harassment and cyberbullying. He pled guilty, but challenged the law's constitutionality twice, according to the county's website. Both times the law's constitutionality was upheld. The Court of Appeals is set to hear the case again, likely in 2014, according to the website.

mhamilton@timesunion.com • 518-454-5431 •@matt_hamilton10