Autistic teen will go to prison for knife attack at Muncie high school

MUNCIE, Ind. -- An autistic teenager who pleaded guilty in a knife attack on a high-school classmate was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday.\nTravis A. Marlett, 18, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in August to a felony charge of criminal confinement in exchange for prosecutors dismissing a more serious charge of attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon.\nHe was charged with attacking Leigh Ann Vorhees in a Muncie Central High School classroom in Sep. 2005. Vorhees, then 16, suffered a 4-inch cut across her neck and needed stitches for hand wounds. She was released from a hospital within hours after the attack.\nPolice said the attack happened after the boy had complained of stomach pains and was excused from class to go to the nurse's office.\nInstead, he went into a classroom where Vorhees was working as a teacher's helper but was alone after the teacher left to make copies. Police said he got a tissue, left and then returned and attacked her from behind.\nVorhees and her family were present at the Friday sentencing hearing in Delaware Circuit Court but did not speak.\n"It was a good resolution, not having to put the victim through the stresses of a trial," Deputy Prosecutor Mark McKinney said.\nSpecial Judge Peter Haviza of Randolph County imposed the maximum penalty, but Marlett will receive mental health treatment during his time in prison. Experts previously testified that Marlett suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism that causes people to have narrow and excessive interests. A psychologist testified that Marlett's interests included knives and swords.\nPolice officers found about 50 knives in the boy's bedroom during a search of his home.