A 13-year-old boy in Arizona has been charged with misdemeanor assault after a school dodgeball game escalated, leaving his ex-girlfriend with two large bruises. Abel Schipper, a student at Mayer High School, admitted to targeting her during the December 2025 incident but insisted he never intended to hurt her.
Incident Details
The incident occurred during a warm-up for a PE class in December 2025. According to a police report, Schipper and two of his friends were accused of 'relentlessly' pelting the girl with dodgeballs. Abel, in a TV interview with Arizona's Family, said, 'We threw around the dodgeballs, and then, I throw it at her. I hit her. One of the kids missed. The other kid also hit.'
Two days after the class, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office was contacted by a social worker from Banner Health. The whistleblower reported that the three boys had 'relentlessly assaulted her with dodgeballs when she came out of the bathroom' and that the girl had been taken to hospital. Photos taken by her mother showed two blue and purple bruises, each roughly the size of a softball—one on her upper-right rib cage and the other on her lower-right abdomen.
Schipper's Defense
In his TV appearance, Abel acknowledged deliberately aiming at his ex. 'I'm not going to lie. I did target her a little bit,' he said, arguing that targeting is part of the game. 'Obviously, I'm going to have to target somebody for dodgeball. It's dodgeball. You have to choose somebody, throw the ball, then try to get them out. I didn't want to hurt her at all.' He described the balls as small, soft, and compressible, saying, 'I didn't think a dodgeball would hurt, and these are small ones too. So, you can squeeze them and they compress and stuff.'
Abel said he and the girl were neither particularly friendly nor hostile. 'I wouldn't say we were on good terms, but I also wouldn't say we were on bad terms,' he said. 'She used to hit me a lot, and then, she kind of just broke it off after that.'
Mother's Reaction
His mother, Cecily Schipper, claimed the school never contacted her about the incident and that her son wasn't disciplined. She also said she didn't know a deputy had interviewed Abel on school grounds. She only learned of the investigation months later, when the Yavapai County Juvenile Justice Center sent her a letter informing her of the misdemeanor assault charge.
'It is absolutely ridiculous. This is a game that every kid in the nation plays at some point in their life,' she said. 'They're considering the dodgeball a weapon and that he knowingly or willingly, recklessly harmed this girl just playing dodgeball in PE.' Cecily also questioned whether the incident caused any lasting dispute, noting that the girl continued asking for rides home. 'I have text messages from her asking for rides home after this incident happened in December. So, it's just strange,' she said. 'And I was friends with her mom as well. If it was a situation where boys will be boys, then he deserves punishment for that. But I also think… my son is getting injustice here when it comes to the court situation.'
Upcoming Court Hearing
A judge is due to hear the case on Monday, with the Schipper family saying two of the three boys charged are expected to appear. The school and the girl's family have so far declined to comment. The outcome of the hearing will determine whether the charges proceed, potentially setting a precedent for how similar school incidents are handled in juvenile court.
