Victim’s parents welcome Slender Man attack plea

WAUKESHA, Wis. — The parents of the Wisconsin girl who was stabbed by a classmate aiming to please the fictional horror character Slender Man say a plea deal sending one of the assailants to a mental hospital offers some closure.

The parents of now 15-year-old Payton Leutner issued a statement Thursday after Morgan Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the 2014 attack. Prosecutors are seeking to have Geyser committed to a mental hospital for 40 years.

Leutner’s parents say “with this closure, our daughter is a heroic survivor and no longer a victim.”

They say that the emotional effects of a long trial were “simply too great a burden on our daughter and family.” And, they say, they didn’t want to risk Geyser being released following a trial.

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