On Sunday, October 5, 2003 at 10:56:02 AM UTC-7, Arash wrote:

Associated Press
October 02, 2003

Sex assault charges filed in alleged football hazing case

By DAVID B. CARUSO
PHILADELPHIA - Prosecutors on Thursday charged three high school football players from New York with sodomizing and hazing younger teammates at a preseason training camp in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The teens, students at Mepham High School in Bellmore, N.Y., face a long
list of juvenile court charges, including five felonies: involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, kidnapping, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and false imprisonment.
Police and a Wayne County grand jury have been investigating allegations
that the teens, now aged 16, 16 and 17, sodomized younger players with a broomstick, pine cones and golf balls during an Aug. 22-27 trip to Camp
Wayne for Girls in Preston Park, Pa.
Sixty players and five coaches from the Long Island school attended the
camp, which is about 125 miles north of Philadelphia. The coaches slept in a different cabin from students, and said they were unaware of any problems until a parent complained.
State police said the victims, a 13-year-old and two 14-year-old boys, were threatened, beaten and then violated with foreign objects covered in a pain-relieving cream.
The Bellmore-Merrick school district suspended the three accused players
from school and canceled the team's season.
The names of the accused players were not released by prosecutors. Wayne County District Attorney Mark R. Zimmer said none of the teens had been arrested. They will be asked to voluntarily travel to Pennsylvania to face charges, and if they refuse, warrants will be issued, Zimmer said.
Larry Spern, an attorney for one of the three Mepham High students suspended during the investigation, said he had not seen the charges and could not comment. He would not confirm whether the boy he represents was among those charged.
Attorneys for two of the other suspended teens did not immediately return phone calls Thursday.
While the teens were charged as juveniles, Zimmer said he would decide by Oct. 6 whether to apply for a transfer to adult court. If they are charged
as adults and convicted, the teens could face significant jail terms.
Robert P. Kelly, an attorney for two of the alleged victims, said harsh treatment of the suspects is warranted.
"We are hoping that Mr. Zimmer will do everything in his power to ensure
that (the suspects) are prosecuted as adults," Kelly said. "This goes way over any juvenile hazing."
Kelly also offered thanks to witnesses who have come forward to talk about the case.
Zimmer had initially complained that players and students aware of the incident had refused to cooperate with investigators, and in a written statement Thursday again urged children and parents with "relevant information" to step forward.
"Do the right thing, if not for the victims, for your own self respect," Zimmer wrote. "Silence is often golden, but in this particular circumstance it is reprehensible."
Zimmer had previously chided school administrators for not quickly turning over records related to the case, but said Thursday that they are now cooperating.
Investigators are still trying to determine if charges against other
students or adults are appropriate.
Bellmore-Merrick Superintendent of Schools Thomas Caramore said in a
prepared statement that he was "encouraged that the process is moving
forward and that justice will be served."
In addition to the five felony charges, the teens face misdemeanor charges
of making terroristic threats, criminal coercion, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, ethnic intimidation and conspiracy. http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/local/6910814.htm

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