The four boys charged with beating a physically disabled teen in a city park made court appearances behind closed doors Thursday.

Juvenile criminal cases are a matter of public record in Kansas, but Judge Pro Tem Peggy Kittel ordered the proceedings closed based on a law that allows judges to keep the public out if they decide an open hearing “is not in the best interest” of the juvenile.

Afterward, a prosecutor said three of the boys’ cases were postponed until later in the summer. Another boy’s attorney said his client’s trial was scheduled for Aug. 27.

On her way into the courtroom, the mother of one of the boys charged said that her son wasn’t a bad person — just someone who made a mistake. Family members of another of the boys have made similar comments.

Teri Snell, the mother of beating victim Josh Graves, questioned whether the boys or their family members truly felt remorseful. She said one boy’s mother acknowledged her in the courtroom Thursday but claimed that other boys’ family members gave her dirty looks.

“I walk in there and I feel like I’m the bad guy by the way they glare at me — that I was actually the victimizer,” Snell said.

The boys charged in the attack were ages 11 through 15 at the time of the May 21 incident, which happened as Josh was walking through Clinton Park, 500 Ill. Josh has limited use of the left side of his body because of cerebral palsy.

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