I don't have psychic skills. Yet to place responsibilityon any adult, coach or parent, means at leastpartially acquitting the kids; to suggest that someoneshould have stopped them is to believe that they couldhave been stopped. He gave his son a cellphone. Decent football player, though.. Dominick Novello #2, Mepham quarterback, throws a pass during a rain-filled Nassau County football Conference II semifinal against Long Beach at Shuart Stadium on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The crime scene evidence that convicted Alex Murdaugh They have criticized the coaches and school district for lax supervision, accusing Mepham officials of ignoring the long disciplinary record of one of the three attackers. Days later, the school wentahead with its annual pep rally, in a gesture ofsupport for Coach Mac and the sidelined Pirates. I cried," says Carol, who asked her friend, Jim Rullo, to make a speech on her behalf. "My son came forward, did something that he did not want to do. Involuntary deviate sexualintercourse. We dontalways understand, and we dont alwayssee. He attempts a little levityIknow he shared his hopes for the Yankees with theLordbefore straining for profundity:The great artist has finished hisportrait. He urges the mourners to say a prayerfor the family. Hes the man of the family now. Kevin Minnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com | Dec 7, 2022. 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. They did not come to help me.Rullo quotes the parent of that child as blamingprincipal John Didden, who did not protect mychild., Four days later, Rullo and two other parents who spokereceive identical profanity-laced letters in the mail,warning that if they keep speaking out, theyllalso get the broomstick treatment. It's, like, they're monsters," says Patty. Weve been 0 and 8 since 1999!says James. Broomsticks dipped in mineral ice, a kind of liquid heat, golf balls, pine cones and toothbrushes, were all pushed into the boy's rectums. In the bunks, 17-year-old players were assigned to watch over 13-year-old boys. False imprisonment. And I know the family of one of theattackers. some by the crimes, others by the cancellation of the season. The district's superintendent, Dr. Thomas Caramore, defended the decision in a letter to the community earlier this month, saying the principal spoke with the boy and the coach before camp, and there was no way of anticipating the attacks. When members of a high-school football team on Long Island were accused of sexual attacks, the community was appalled . ''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. We love our community. In earlier interviews, the head coach, Kevin McElroy, and his four assistants have said they did not know about the attacks, and could have done nothing to prevent them. Heand a group of kids have me surrounded. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. OK. No!! 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. "Did I tell the perpetrators to go and do that to those kids? When a. Statistically showing, at least 100,000 college football players get hurt yearly. A problem arises though once try outs are over and the team is announced. (CNN) -- Five football coaches at a Long Island high school lost their jobs Wednesday night in fallout from an alleged . At Mepham High School on Long Island, the entire football season was canceled after players admitted to sadistically hazing fellow teammates. These parents are now lobbying for a national hazing law, one with severe penalties. The guy grabbed me in front of the wholeteam, Berger says. West Jersey Football League all-stars: United Division, 2022. 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. The way they walked? I went to summerschool with them. The lineman, he says,was always starting fights. Afew miles awaysouth of Sunrise Highway, down bythe blue water of East BayBMWs and Lexuses fillthe lot at the rival high school, John F. Kennedy.This was Amy Fishers high schoolthe richschool. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "Not once. His dadsaved his friends life that day. Nassau County Girl Scouts fundraise for victims of quake in Syria, Turkey at Masjid Hamza, Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions. This was the 94th meeting between the two schools . The conversation easily shifts to a defenseof Coach Mac. I need to see a doctor,'" says Carol. Hasnt hebeen through enough? 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. And coming in, you expect it.Youre ready for it., From what I heard, the guys stuck his head inthe toilet, and that was it. That hasnt satisfied parents whocomplain about the lost scholarships, the deflatedhomecoming celebration, and the fund-raisers for othersports, all of which depend on football and are nowruined, theyre saying, because of a couple ofmessed-up kids. "And if you had a broomstick stuck up your rectum, you'd be screaming and fighting forever to make sure that didn't happen, wouldn't you? Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Hes dangerous, hes terrifying, hes an extra in, How to Watch the 2023 Oscars Celebrate All 23 Categories Live Again. }, First published on April 12, 2004 / 5:10 PM. Anotherparent, Jim Rullo, delivers a prepared statement onbehalf of the victims families. He even threatened teachers. He did more for me than any coach ever. (516) 569-4000, To donate or for more information, click here, Chamber, mayors office are no match for the Thunderbolts. Relatives read from the books of Matthew and Wisdom.And then the linemanwhom classmates call abully, who would shove kids hed never even metinto lockers as they walked bystands suddenly,stepping out from his place in the front, and walksback eight rows to give a bear hug to his littlebrother, seated next to his mother (who was divorcedfrom the father). Trending News 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.) Berger says his friends persuaded him to stay off theteam. He wrestled instead. But other voices emerge at the meeting, corroboratingthe victims contention that hazing is a fact oflife at Mepham. '', ''This is a wake-up call,'' said the father of one of the victims, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect his son. One student lifts up another and dumps him, legs flailing, in a bush. According to the report, two of the attackers held down one of the freshmen while the third sodomized the freshman with a broomstick coated with Mineral Ice, a pain-relieving ointment. You could just seehe had so much anger in him. He never brought this incident toMcElroys attention; he must have brought it tothe JV coachs attention. . Treat others with the respect that you wouldlike to receive. Act appropriately. no.". Mary explodes. This incident could have been foreseeable by the coaches, and possibly the administration, if the coach reported anything to the principal and athletic director. Theres no way youcant play me. School administrators, however, let him get on the bus anyway. And he told us that they were keeping them up. mepham high school football scandal. During his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. I think hes adirtbag. But critics say their mistakes started early. "I assumed he was homesick, so I said, 'Stick it out. The two boys join their sister tobring the Communion offerings forward as the mournerssing Be Not Afraid.. But at a hearing in Honesdale, Pa., President Judge Robert Conway barred 16-year-old Tom Diasparra from returning to the Bellemore, L.I., high school and warned him to watch his step. 10/08/2022. Theyre big football players who look andact like football players, says Jesse.Big and aggressive., The lineman was yelled at a lot,remembers another boy. Some have hired lawyers for their children. With FamousAmos on the squad, the team made the county playoffsall four years. Once the season started, eight players tackled him inthe locker room and lowered him into the toilet; thistime, he says, it contained urine. A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student. Due to the amount of padding they have to wear, football players can easily disguise their size therefore keeping them from receiving scrutiny from the public. ", Patty says her son also hasn't recovered from the ordeal: "About a month ago, I had gotten a call from a neighbor. Hedoesnt have a senior season to put on hiscollege application., This guy comes to my job, says Andy.He says, Oh, Im in Mephamnow, maybe I should shove a pinecone up myass! I said, Thats notfunny. These guys on the team are gonna beharassed the rest of their fuckin lives., My son knows one of the boys who wasattacked, Mary says sadly. But the happy boys these parents sent to camp last summer didn't return that way. But it wasn't until Jan. 11, after a possible sexual assault that occurred the previous week, that the high school's school resource officer, Kim Wood, was made aware of the "ongoing harassment behavior toward a student/member of the varsity football team . Ken Carney, 16, the ringleader of the attacks, was well-known by school administrators as a disciplinary problem. Oct. 20, 2003. But for the victims' families, the report came as a vindication, they said. He said no," recalls Carol. Youve got some Janning to do! Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. Did a kid come and tell us? More than 60 players attended the camp, including the boy's best friend Patty and Jimmy's son who was also just 13. Some kids even approach them and suggestthat the time has come to let bygones be bygones.Their logic is biblicalan eye for an eye.The linemans father died! One was sent to a boot camp, another to a juvenile treatment facility and the third returned home on probation. It devastated us. Once rated one of the best academic high. You know, what could be going on? Mepham High School football hazing case tore Long Island apart in 2003. The coaches' lawyer and officials for the Bellmore-Merrick School District did not comment on the report's findings or its criticisms. Students ''don't know who to blame,'' said Allie. "He was after my son morning, noon, and night. The grand jury says the five coaches who supervised the team were ''more concerned with being coaches of a football team than interested in the well-being of the players as students.'' Criminal coercion. They were carried outover several nights, with several victims, one of whomrequired surgery for his injuries. . display: block; There's coaches. Coach Mac talked to my mom, convinced us tostay. Tell me why I should just know? 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. Now, McElroy and Junior Varsity Coach Art Cannestro exclusively tell their story to 48 Hours. At this point, the victims would have already suffered numerous attacks. The 15-year-old wide receiver became the first female football player in Long Island history to score a touchdown Saturday night, when. Its the kind of bar where people stillsmoke and no one cares. Terms of Service apply. Once in high school, senior athletes have scouts that come out to see them play. They demanded that the boy be barred from camp but were rebuffed, they said. Hasan Minhaj Brings His Powerpoints and Power Suits to Independent Spirit Awards. 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. Once each school year, older Mepham students would beat up younger ones on school grounds in a ritual called ''Freshman Friday,'' the grand jury found. Soon after the first revelations of the attacks, the Reichsteins reached out to newspapers and television stations with their story. We love kids. At first, shock and disbelief prevailed. Ultimately, its gonnabe a civil case. Abner Louima sued the New YorkPolice Department for $155 million, eventuallysettling for $8.75 million. The report criticized the Wayne County judge, Robert Conway, for his decision not to move the attackers' cases from juvenile to adult court. PARLIN, N.J. - The investigation at a New Jersey prep football powerhouse that has led to sex crime charges against seven teens prompted an almost unheard-of . Yeah, that shit gotfreakin blown up. Then came the civil suit, settled for apaltry sum, to cover medical bills.Berger got threatening letters: Keep singing,Berger, and youll see.. says McElroy. She says Didden said no twice.Thats when Vic stood up and called Didden aliar. The Mepham-Garden City football game this week could be a juicy one. The third player in the Mepham HS hazing scandal was sentenced to probation after he made a deal with prosecutors and provided information. Kristina and Vic Reichstein stand upand say their son, a freshman, was threatened by thelineman during practice in July and August.