2 juveniles charged in connection with pouring acid on slides at Longmeadow playground

Two juveniles are being criminally charged in connection with a June incident in which four children were burned by pool acid that was poured on slides at a Longmeadow playground.

The two young people, whose names are being withheld because of their ages, have each been indicted by a Hampden County Grand Jury on four counts of assault and battery on a child with injury, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and vandalism, according to the Hampden County District Attorney’s office. 

On the morning of June 11, Longmeadow police and firefighters were informed that children at Bliss Park Playground suffered burn-like injuries. At the same time, police and firefighters were notified that a suspicious substance had been found on three slides at the playground. They soon determined that the substance was muriatic acid — a pool chemical used to bring down the pH of pools.

Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni in a statement called the incident “shocking and terrible.”

“Our collective effort to charge those we believe are responsible should make clear that protecting this community’s children is among our highest priorities,” he said. “Whether the threat and harm caused were intended as pranks or malicious acts, it will not be tolerated.”