mepham high school football scandal

But the grand jury did not find the coaches criminally negligent. At 1:21 p.m. last Friday, the Mepham High School football and cheerleading squads should have rushed onto Mepham's field for a When I was in ninth grade, says Lohman,my father died and my mother wanted to move toFlorida. I think they hated me because I introduced the pull-up to their strength and conditioning program. It has been 11 years since three football players, ages 15 to 17, from Mepham High School in Bellmore, New York, were criminally charged with sodomizing teammates during a preseason. Reichstein called Didden, whose reply, according toReichstein, was that there was no hazing at Mepham,because if there were, wed cancelfootball season. (Didden and his attorney didnot return repeated calls.) "What constitutes a scream?" October 11, 2014 / 7:28 PM / AP. "I don't want everything he's gone through to be just a waste. These towns lost seventeenpeople in the World Trade Center attacks.Theyre places whose kids go to college locallyand then settle here and raise families. But one kid whogot it in the shitter, hes just like afag., Yeah, he says. After the coacheswent to sleep in their own cabin, at least threemembers of the team, ages 15, 16, and 17, allegedlyrubbed heat-producing mineral ice on broomsticks,pinecones, and golf balls and used those items topenetrate at least three freshman players while therest of the boys in the cabin all bore witness. The coaches say they were staying in another cabin less than 50 yards from the players, and if anyone screamed, they would have heard it. "Not once. Reichstein triedto stare the lineman down. "We're not suggesting anything about injuries. OK. The fact thatthese studies show the prevalence of this conduct inmany hazing situations supports a conclusion thattheres no reason to believe that this wouldhave occurred outside of such a setting, or abelief that such conduct would reoccur., Besides, he notes, the juvenile-justice systemaffords kids a second chance. McElroy and his coaching staff claim they had no responsibility for a vicious alleged hazing incident at a training camp in Pennsylvania in August. (Smith/AP) Last week's criminal charges involving six New Mexico high school football players alleged to have sexually . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Ken Carney, 16, the ringleader of the attacks, was well-known by school administrators as a disciplinary problem. Theres a no-cut policy. My sonthinks its just a bad thing that went too far,too fast., Andy mentions what some people are sayingthatwhat happened at camp was part of a pattern of hazingat Mepham. Once in high school, senior athletes have scouts that come out to see them play. (516) 569-4000, To donate or for more information, click here, Chamber, mayors office are no match for the Thunderbolts. And my son said, 'They inserted a broomstick.'". We as coaches donot see this incident as hazing, he said,but as a criminal act., Coach Mac has an attorney, Joseph Rosenthal, who isshifting the blame right back to the parents.The coach is a very dedicated, sincereperson, the lawyer says. The kid that did it, I feel so bad forhim, the boy says. He was always in troubleat school, but not in football. The problem was with thekidsand with the parents who brought them upthat way., Sothe parents. It was horrible. By Michael Luo. We were afraid they would walk away with probation.. A grand jury report later described how they used duct tape to pull off their children's pubic hair, how they forced them and another boy they sodomized to kick each other in the groin, and then threatened to beat and kill all of them if they told anybody. Life goes on in Bellmore, despite the sex-abuse scandal involving members of the high school football team that has roiled this Long Island community. Some parents and athletes believe equal playing time for all sports and activities is deserved all through their middle school and high school careers. On 11/4, the Mepham varsity football team won their home conference game against MacArthur (Levittown, NY) by a score of 14-7. "He missed the whole first, basically, semester. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Hes the man of the family now. According to the nine-page report, the culture of hazing and a lack of supervision and safeguards to protect students led to the sexual assaults that occurred in August while Mepham's varsity and junior varsity teams prepared for the season at a camp in Wayne County, Pa. In the end, they will be left unprepared for life. Expect to be held accountablefor your choices and actions. Be truthful.From The Mepham Way, Mepham HighSchools honor code, 48 MINUTES OF HELL, A LIFETIME TO REMEMBERSlogan on a Mepham Pirates football T-shirt. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He says the coach said,Okay, Ill handle it. From thatmoment on, the junior stopped callingReichsteins son faggot andstarted calling him tattletale boy., One day at practice, the lineman approached him whilehe was drinking from a water fountain. Know what is expected andacceptable. Be responsible. I told him what hazing was, he says.I did not explain to him that hazing wasgolf balls, broomsticks, and pinecones.Reichsteins son was unharmed; three otherfreshmen werent so lucky. When athletes experience head trauma, they only recover a little, which might end their career early or other times people never recover. Were more Jewish! another kidyells, laughing. Also it brings down students self esteem. On October 6, heannounced that that was his intention. "They had bags of ice and they were bashing it all over his body until the bags broke. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Everybody knew I got hazed in the lockerroom, he says. But the happy boys these parents sent to camp last summer didn't return that way. Mepham High School (North Bellmore, NY) Varsity Football Varsity Boys Football North Bellmore, NY FOLLOW TEAM 22-23 V. Football Home Schedule Roster Standings Rankings Photos Videos News More / Mepham High School Football Mepham Football OVERALL 10-2 0.83 Win % LEAGUE 8-1 2nd in League HOME6-0 AWAY3-1 NEUTRAL1-1 PF334 PA169 STREAK1L I'm grabbing all the medication out of my cabinet and looking for everything that I think he's gonna hurt himself. The sexual assaults that occurred last summer among members of a Long Island high school football team sprang from old traditions of violent hazing that coaches and school officials could not curb, according to a report handed up yesterday by a Pennsylvania grand jury. ''These assaults appear to have grown out of a history of hazing both at the football camp and at Mepham High School itself,'' the report says. Anyone can read what you share. In my opinion, a good education is so very important for our countrys youth, especially the athletes. Anyplayer that wants to be on the football team can be onthe team. The issue spans to not only the professional level, but the high school and collegiate divisions as well. The coaches, however, say that, in attempt to deal with Carney's threats to another member of the team, they put Reichstein's son in the cabin closest to them, and asked an upperclassman to keep an eye on both boys. Kristina and Vic Reichstein stand upand say their son, a freshman, was threatened by thelineman during practice in July and August. The three attackers were charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse after they sodomized the younger players with pine cones, golf balls and a broomstick in August at a football camp in Preston Park, Pa. maize high school basketball roster. Diasparra cut a deal and received probation. "Everybody says we should just know. I said, You wantto lock me in a locker and laugh for an hour, fine.But Im not down with urine, dude., At the beginning of his junior year, Berger says, heshowed up to start the season. 1999, McAlester High School, Oklahoma: A football player suffered a head injury after he was jumped by older teammates in a locker-room hazing. Three varsity players are charged by Pennsylvania authorities with sodomizing three junior varsity players with broomsticks, pine cones and golf balls. "Something happened in between those practices every single time, to my son. at Garden City. But are they really fortunate? How Tyrel Jackson Williams Brought TikTok Cringe to, Its sort of a newer version of the L.A. actor ride that Kyle is on the first two seasons, but its worse.. According to the report, ''a lack of accountability appears to permeate the entire structure of the administration and running of this camp program.'' The superintendent, while admonishing the team for notcooperating with the investigation, has also putforward a tidy defense of McElroy and the principal,Didden. My first reason I believe athletes with bad grades shouldnt play sports, For years, the use of performance-enhancing drugs has haunted all levels of sport, baseball taking the majority of the publicity. On 10/29, the Mepham varsity football team won their away conference game against Sewanhaka (Floral Park, NY) by a score of 27-12. !Effin this, effinthatyoure not coming on my team,youre done, youre done, youredone! And I started screaming at him.. False imprisonment. On the second day, the incidents became brutal. Try as they might to rid themselves of it, students, parents and other residents are finding that the incident is now woven into the fabric of life here. Our community is being blamed. On 11/11, the Mepham varsity football team won their neutral playoff game against Long Beach (NY) by a score of 14-0. I went to summerschool with them. The lineman, he says,was always starting fights. This was a sexual attack!, Are we gonna argue about this? The morals, the attitudes, of a Mepham student,are different, suggests another Kennedy player,Danny. Dozens of Long Island parents outraged at the handling of broomstick hazing assaults at a Mepham High School football camp are organizing a secret meeting tomorrow to plan action against. Even before three varsity players for the Mepham High School Pirates sodomized three freshman teammates at a football camp, using golf balls, pine cones and a broomstick, other classes of football players had hazed new members by beating them and dunking their heads into toilets, the report said. The report criticized the Wayne County judge, Robert Conway, for his decision not to move the attackers' cases from juvenile to adult court. Relatives of the victims, 13 and 14 at the time of the attacks, expressed satisfaction at the outcome. They speak ofbroomsticks, pinecones, and golf balls. Jonathan Anderson gets one of the first qualities of great fashion that it has to feel a bit strange. Subscriber Exclusive. The football players were unfairly penalized by the sanctions that were placed on the team. All that has led these parents to ask the same kind of questions asked after the shootings at Columbine: How much did the school know about their student assailants, and who should be held responsible? Now when they talk about Mepham, they use the wordssodomy and hazing. I said, 'What's the matter?' Two of the kids are underclassmen, littlekids, he says. If such a policy had been in place, one of the attackers would not have been allowed at the camp, the report says. "He said to him, 'Don't even think of sleeping at football camp. It would be the adventure of his life five days of intense football in the woods of Pennsylvania. But for the victims' families, the report came as a vindication, they said. "He [my son] called several times. "Did I tell the perpetrators to go and do that to those kids? Once the season started, eight players tackled him inthe locker room and lowered him into the toilet; thistime, he says, it contained urine. He used to play in the minor leagues and the team loved him because of his dedication to their lives and his credibility at baseball. "He was laying in bed with a big butcher knife in his hand 'cause he was scared. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, Buster Murdaugh got 'very drunk' with dad 2 months after mom, brother murdered: source, I'm a professional cleaner ditch these 4 household products immediately, Shoeless Ariana Madix awkwardly tries to avoid cheating Tom Sandoval, Prince Harry was scared to lose Meghan Markle after fight that led to therapy, Prince Harry says psychedelics are fundamental part of his life, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant allegedly flashes gun at a strip club, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss planned to tell Ariana Madix about affair. Now, McElroy and Junior Varsity Coach Art Cannestro exclusively tell their story to 48 Hours. "There were no screams.