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Tales from the tormentors Confessed former bullies perform belated community service: What they look for, how to avoid them

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From: Chicago Sun-Times
Date: 20010823
Author:Sabrina Walters

Derrick Baker was the kid everyone at school feared. He played into it, too.

To boost his tough-guy image, Baker dressed in "wife-beater" tank tops to show off his developing muscles to the scrawny masses at Bret Harte elementary.

Then one day he took it too far.

A simple "Indian burn" is all Baker meant to do when he grabbed a fellow fifth-grader's arm and twisted it--until it broke. She had made the mistake of shrugging off his demands to "get out of the way," and he was teaching her a lesson with a typical childhood prank of twisting arm skin until it irritates.

That was nearly 30 years ...

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