June 2012
This is a local story, and one I’m extremely passionate about.
This school THRIVES on good football. Both of these boys were football players and given OBVIOUS favoritism in this case despite the female victim being an honor student and a star athlete herself.
A few details:
Both the principal and the cheer leading coach(who coached the girl, but also is the wife of the football coach) were character witnesses for the boys. They gave rave reviews of their character and honor status(which this girl also had).
After the prosecution(one received a felony charge) the principal said it was impossible to remove the boys from their shared classes, lunch, and coed sports teams in fear of a lawsuit FROM THE BOYS.
When the girl received a court order to not be in contact with them, the school still kept them in the same lunch and test together. Witnesses say the boys would often sit within feet of the girl during lunch.
The girl asked to be transferred to another local school(my alma mater, actually) at their cost as her’s was not protecting her properly, but her request was denied.
During track practices the boys would run closely behind her purposefully making her uneasy, the girl was told to leave practice if she was uncomfortable
The football coach appeal to the judge to have one boy’s ankle bracelet removed so he could perform better on the team
The school had a legal obligation to report the incident and follow through with it when they first learned it happened, regardless of if it happens on campus. The school never contacted the police.
Fuck everything.