mepham high school football scandal

"They couldn't be further from the truth," says Cannestro. Most students, the girls say, have not gotten caught up in the anger and recrimination that have divided their parents. Were happy as can be, said Carol, an aunt of one of the victims. They had hoped that the three assailants (Phil Sofia, Ken Carney, and Tom Diasparra) would be tried as adults for the crimes. When people talked aboutMepham, they talked about Famous Amos. When athletes experience head trauma, they only recover a little, which might end their career early or other times people never recover. In my mind, the school made a major error innot suspending these three allegedperpetrators, says Robert Kelly, an attorneyfor two victims. "He was waiting for them [the coaches] to come in and save him, but no one came," says Carol's husband, Vinny. Keep yourmouth shut, the letters read, andnothing will happen to you or your family.. ''We don't do it in front of them,'' the teenager said, referring to the victims. Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The star lineman towersover most of the other pallbearers. In the end, they will be left unprepared for life. And he was very excited," recalls Patty. says McElroy. Theyre sick of reporters, andtheyre worried about the lineman. Does heknow this for sure? Michelle Yeoh Promises No Swearing, Only Tears During Best Lead Performance Win. That washazing! He wrestled instead. On September 17, the Bellmore-Merrick Central HighSchool District Board of Education canceledMepham's football season. Dominick Novello, Mepham battle through tough conditions to advance to Instead, they were treated as juveniles. "He didn't go to school for a long time. "Did I tell the perpetrators to go and do that to those kids? Waiting outside in front of the hearseis a police escort, to ward off the media. But these parents say the risk to their children was greater. Mephamsstudent body is pulled from the northern part of thecommunity, where there are $50,000-a-year jobs and theschool parking lot is dominated by Chevys and Fords. Ultimately, its gonnabe a civil case. Abner Louima sued the New YorkPolice Department for $155 million, eventuallysettling for $8.75 million. The grand jury report did not state that sexual assault had been part of hazing at Mepham High School or at past football camps (there were two before 2003). Anyone can read what you share. But the grand jury did not find the coaches criminally negligent. We've received your submission. Coach speaks out for first time on LI football team hazing allegations It is understandable that everyone can not make the team but it is a terrible thing to cut children by telling them they did not have enough room on the team or are not ready to be on it. "I assumed he was homesick, so I said, 'Stick it out. They reallycouldnt do anything about it. The public was barred from the hearing, but the penalties and the judges comments were disclosed by relatives of victims, lawyers and cops. Trust me been there done that, the most regretted thing about school sports for many are tryouts. I want to bepart of the team.. The issue spans to not only the professional level, but the high school and collegiate divisions as well. "You didn't monitor him very carefully, obviously," says Patty of what happened to her 13-year-old son. Students have pushed their bodies to the limits, causing extreme injury that will hold them back from sports in the future. One student lifts up another and dumps him, legs flailing, in a bush. Hazing scandal rocks high school | News, Sports, Jobs - Lawrence He called the school boards decision 100 percent unjust.. NEW! At Mepham High School on Long Island, the entire football season was canceled after players admitted to sadistically hazing fellow teammates. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. It would be the adventure of his life five days of intense football in the woods of Pennsylvania. Also, sleep-away sports camps will no longer be authorized by the school district, Billig said. 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. But critics say their mistakes started early. . "He was absolutely screaming. The question has whirled aroundBellmore for weeks: Who would raise a child who woulddo this to another child? The parishioners sing Make Me aChannel of Your Peace. And then the younglineman, who charged onto the varsity squad hissophomore year at W.C. Mepham High SchoolHomeof the Piratesis in tears. Thats when Berger says Coach Mac lunged athimhis hand reaching the boys throat. The coaches also showed 48 Hours a tape never before made public - one they say was recorded on the last day of camp. After all, theywerent just studentsthey wereathletes.. Scandal at New Jersey High school reopens hazing debate maize high school basketball roster. We love our children. The coaches, who supervised the trip, say that they had no idea any of this was happening during the camp. Carol said it appeared Conway had sentenced Sofia to the boot camp because he disliked the teens attitude. He really was.". These individuals hope to be part of something special, whether its achieving individual goals or team goals. Student athletes are not getting the opportunity to play multiple sports during the year, because they are expected to spelize in one sport and focus on it year round, leaving no opportunity to play other sports or do other activities. Reichsteins wife,Kristina, then begged Didden to make an example of thelineman. Says one Mepham parent, Werealways in competition with the upper class., The kids on Kennedys football team know theMepham team, and theyre a little afraid of someof them. Ken Carney, 16, the ringleader of the attacks, was well-known by school administrators as a disciplinary problem. They bashed him in his head, over his back, his legs, his arms," recalls Patty, who says her son was assaulted at least 3-4 times a day. Dangerous Minds - CBS News When several parents received threatening letters after speaking out about the incident, emotions ratcheted higher. Rullo, now a community activist for change in his school district, says he received numerous letters and phone calls, including one that said that he and his family would die. 28 - 13 W. 10/22/2022. No," says McElroy. Youth sports are becoming too intense for young children to keep up with. He said, 'Well, your son was just online and saying he can't take it anymore. On October 6, heannounced that that was his intention. I dont evencare what they did.. It was horrible. .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) { Adds Jesse: Mepham kids say,Youre from Kennedy, and punch us.Theyre the bully school, the physical school.Even in middle school, we knew which kids were goingto Mepham and which to Kennedy.. On Bellmore Avenue, themain drag in town, a mile or so east of Mepham,Docs Pub serves as an unofficial class-reunionspace. With FamousAmos on the squad, the team made the county playoffsall four years. Most of the shit they did was pranks,like shaving cream, one Mepham boy tells me ona sunny Wednesday, a day before the funeral of thelinemans father. Sofia was sentenced to the boot camp and Carney to the detention center both in Pennsylvania. Offscreen, he was one himself. asks McElroy. During his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. !Effin this, effinthatyoure not coming on my team,youre done, youre done, youredone! And I started screaming at him.. Of course this thing escalated tosodomy, Berger says. Who doyou think you are? said the lineman, accordingto Reichsteins son. And he told us that they were keeping them up. He gave his son a cellphone. Privacy Policy and "The gastroenterologist said, 'What happened? The Mepham High School football season was eventually cancelled and the three upperclassman were charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, terroristic threats, criminal coercion, simple assault, reckless endangering of another person, ethnic intimidation, and criminal conspiracy. Judge Robert J. Conway chose to try the accused as juveniles. Nor did he suspendthe three alleged perpetrators, and as a result, theywere allowed to walk the hallways of Mepham High fornearly two weeks. At middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country, everyone is arguing over whether or not students with failing grades should be allowed to play sports. Perhaps most prominent among the group are Victor and Kristina Reichstein, who have criticized the school's principal, John F. Didden, and the team's head coach, Kevin McElroy, from the beginning. Once rated one of the best academic high schools in the nation, Mepham High is now mired in scandal. ''They continue to try to bury this thing and pretend they did everything they could, and that's just not true.''. 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. He taught us not to run away from ourproblems., How old were these kids, 16, 17? saysAndrew Longaro. JUDGE SLAMS MEPHAM HAZERS By Erin Calabrese January 15, 2004 5:00am A Pennsylvania judge imposed strong penalties yesterday on two teens who sexually abused younger players at a high school. What's more, before camp, parents Victor and Kristina Reichstein say Carney threatened their 13-year-old son. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. All the while, older players watched and laughed. Husband of woman murdered with an ax convicted 40 years after her death When a. Statistically showing, at least 100,000 college football players get hurt yearly. Half that shit they didisnt even that bad.. Reichstein triedto stare the lineman down. Or as David Woycik, who represents another victim,puts it: Theres bound to be a movie madeabout this., This is not what Isigned on for when I tried to do the rightthing, says Vic Reichstein. The transition to college is not a walk in the park, but add a rigorous summer conditioning program, two-a-days everyday, and the pressures of coaches you have yet to impress, and you have a recipe for disaster. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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 problem was with thekidsand with the parents who brought them upthat way., Sothe parents. He told Pennsylvaniapolice that he couldnt release informationabout a student without a subpoena. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. "Everybody says we should just know. 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. In the southern reachesof Long Island, nestled between the bucolic SouthernState Parkway and the fast-food joints and cardealerships on Sunrise Highway, the four small townsof Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick, and NorthMerrick make up a solid community of working- andmiddle-class families. Mysons season has been completely fucked up! 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. At a school-board meeting onOctober 1, packed with camera crews and angry parents,Superintendent Caramore tries to explain that hazingsimply doesnt happen at Mephamthatfootball was canceled not because of what the boysallegedly did but because their teammates neverreported it. They had complained to the coach and the principal before football camp that their son, a freshman, had been bullied and threatened by one of the boys who was later charged in the attacks. A minivan with two others whizzes by, music blaring. He was benched for two years as the lawsuit creptthrough the legal system.

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