A prank video that almost became a drowning in Manasquan spurs a call by shore-based state Senator Robert Singer for enhanced legal protections for special-needs individuals.

NJ State Senator Robert Singer (Townsquare Media)
NJ State Senator Robert Singer (Townsquare Media)
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An autistic Howell Township 19-year-old, prodded by two acquaintances, jumped from a jetty into the frigid ocean on February 25. The pair recorded Parker Drake's leap in a cell phone and posted the video. Details emerged in an article by the Asbury Park Press.

Law enforcement officials confided that current statutes offer no clear path to pursue criminal charges.

"This is a very troubling incident where a young man with a mental disability was taken advantage of," Singer said in a prepared release. "This was not a harmless prank. It was flat out wrong and could have resulted in this young man's death. This type of abuse of a developmentally disabled person who didn't know any better simply can't be tolerated."

Singer (R-30) is introducing a bill that would broaden New Jersey's endangerment law to clearly include developmentally-challenged individuals influenced into actions that could result in self-inflicted damage.

"This legislation will clear up any question in the law about whether these types of actions against developmentally disabled adults are illegal," Singer said. "Bullying or taking advantage of anyone with a mental disability is clearly wrong and our laws should reflect that."

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