mepham high school football scandal mepham high school football scandal

''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. Five football coaches at the center of the Mepham High School sexual abuse scandal will not be allowed to coach the team next year, the Bellmore-Merrick school board said on Wednesday. Watch this highlight video of the Mepham (North Bellmore, NY) football team in its game Recap: Mepham vs. Long Beach 2022 on Nov 4, 2022. On 11/11, the Mepham varsity football team won their neutral playoff game against Long Beach (NY) by a score of 14-0. Who doyou think you are? said the lineman, accordingto Reichsteins son. The kid that did it, I feel so bad forhim, the boy says. Go ahead. Three varsity players are charged by Pennsylvania authorities with sodomizing three junior varsity players with broomsticks, pine cones and golf balls. He was riding the bus along with varsity members, who held him upside down. That kid wassick! says a player named Rob. Reichstein triedto stare the lineman down. When Patty and Jimmy's son came home, he told them he had been sodomized, too. 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. Instead, thevictims were laughed at in the halls, calledfaggot and broomstick boy.The superintendent, Thomas Caramore, shielded theschool from inquiries at first. We're going to all the sports stores. But these parents say the risk to their children was greater. Colleges and the NCAA can make money selling jerseys and other souvenirs that might include the likeness of players, yet the actual players never receive a cent. Everybody knew I got hazed in the lockerroom, he says. He really was.". Oct. 20, 2003. Who? Relatives of the victims, 13 and 14 at the time of the attacks, expressed satisfaction at the outcome. Mary is athird-generation Bellmoron. Her boy,Kyle, played varsity. Involuntary deviate sexualintercourse. And who you can expect to see performing and presenting. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. 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). ''We don't do it in front of them,'' the teenager said, referring to the victims. Despite the linemans threats, noone could have anticipated what happened atcamp, Caramore told parents in a speech, adding thatwhatever happened wasnt hazing:None of us in Bellmore-Merrick has used thatterm to define what is, in fact, a brutalcrime., The hazing-or-not debate is a key factor in the legalbattles to come. I was by far the besthalfback on the team, Berger says, now 23 butstill angry. He knows the mainkid, she says. ''They continue to try to bury this thing and pretend they did everything they could, and that's just not true.''. Andbecause we were the group with Amos, our team isetched in his memory.. Berger produced the requiredslip of paper. Please enter valid email address to continue. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Sometimes its hardto tell what bothers the people of Bellmore andMerrick moreallegations of sodomy or the abruptend of football season. It was supposed to be fun, and glorious. This story has been shared 140,209 times. According to the report, ''a lack of accountability appears to permeate the entire structure of the administration and running of this camp program.'' "You didn't monitor him very carefully, obviously," says Patty of what happened to her 13-year-old son. !Effin this, effinthatyoure not coming on my team,youre done, youre done, youredone! And I started screaming at him.. When parents came to an emergency meeting on September16 with the principal and superintendent, they heardnot mea culpas but accusations. We have more wealthy backgrounds, saysDanny. I think hes adirtbag. 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.'' Also, sleep-away sports camps will no longer be authorized by the school district, Billig said. There are the ugly jokes, the signs and buttons declaring neighborhood solidarity, and for some people, new-found activism. Before lastmonth, Mepham High was generally known as anabove-average school with a robust athletic program.Fathers and sons have played for the Mepham Pirates,and Saturday football games are huge social events.The players are the schools heroes: With thepossible exception of Roone Arledge, Mephamsmost famous alumnus has been star Pittsburgh Steelersrunning back Amos Zereoue. Tell us how you did it coach. These words were forced into my face with a camera lens almost resting against my cheeks (page 395). He quotes oneof the boys as saying, I will never trustanyone again. On 10/22, the Mepham varsity football team won their home conference game against South Side (Rockville Centre, NY) by a score of 49-18. We got all new things to bring to pack. Tell me why I should just know? Legendary football coach Joe Paterno was one of those who was fired, which shook up the coaching staff. 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. They had hoped that the three assailants (Phil Sofia, Ken Carney, and Tom Diasparra) would be tried as adults for the crimes. The crime scene evidence that convicted Alex Murdaugh The Bellmore-Merrick school boards decision not to rehire the coaches next year has taken a stake and driven it right through the heart of the community again, said head coach Kevin McElroy. Mineral ice and especially that he now had, from the first time, a cut," says Carol. And he's looking for something in the house to hurt himself.' Before the 68 varsity and junior-varsity players left the Long Island communities of Bellmore and Merrick to attend the weeklong camp in Preston Park, Pa., coaches warned the team that hazing would not be tolerated, and spelled out the edict in a note sent home to players' parents. The coaches let him go, the report says, ''because he was a good football player. How could we have known?". Parents are paying up on school meals again. He wrestled instead. 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 This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google The coaches, who supervised the trip, say that they had no idea any of this was happening during the camp. Treat others with the respect that you wouldlike to receive. Act appropriately. Tryouts are the worst thing about sports, they bring nothing but more stress to your plate. Should a person get paid just for showing up for there a job and not actually doing anything? "There's nothing anyone else could have done differently," adds Cannestro. The emotional impact on him is unbelievable," adds Carol. Regardless, I was all about making them the best well-rounded people before they head into the cruel world. asks McElroy. Students should not have to tryout for school sports. "We went out. We wanted them to be tried as adults, but we lost that battle. Murdaugh defense team plans to appeal conviction By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. "He [my son] called several times. Four days ago, hisfather died in his sleep. He was benched for two years as the lawsuit creptthrough the legal system. 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. Everything Everywhere All at Once has won in every category they were nominated for. He alwayslistened. 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. Tom Sandoval and Ariana Madix have broken up after he allegedly cheated on her with Raquel Leviss. Pertzborn and assistant coach Brad Rogeberg were made aware of the initial bullying on July 24, 2022, according to the police report. They have become activists, who say that the incident is just part of a pattern of problems in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. 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. When the victims came forward, the team closed ranks.Kids who were said to have witnessed the attacksrefused to talk, even though the longtime coach of thePirates, Kevin McElroyCoach Mac to anyone whoknows himwarned them that the season would endif they didnt come forward. One was sent to a boot camp, another to a juvenile treatment facility and the third returned home on probation. 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. One afternoon after practice, they air theirtheories, the chief one being that the lineman musthave been traumatized as a kid. These parents are now lobbying for a national hazing law, one with severe penalties. However, it seems too important to let go. The team did it along with some guidance from my assistant coach and the parents. All the negative attention has galvanized them, they said. When athletes experience head trauma, they only recover a little, which might end their career early or other times people never recover. It devastated us. What about the boys who were raped? A problem arises though once try outs are over and the team is announced. But rather, in my opinion, how could the coaches have known?" says McElroy. 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. "Standing up and giving a 'rah, rah' when my son and the other boys are hurting in this way is so disrespectful. These towns lost seventeenpeople in the World Trade Center attacks.Theyre places whose kids go to college locallyand then settle here and raise families. "He didn't go to school for a long time. Of course not. 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. 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. This wasn't just something that happened when the lights went out.". Over the next few days, the broomstick assaults were repeated. At first, shock and disbelief prevailed. They reallycouldnt do anything about it. And my son said, 'They inserted a broomstick.'". Full speed," says McElroy. But other voices emerge at the meeting, corroboratingthe victims contention that hazing is a fact oflife at Mepham. Hes the man of the family now. Yeah, that shit gotfreakin blown up. Im theprincipal, he said, and Illdecide who can go on the trip. The lineman wasallowed to go to camp. When the school board canceled the football season and suspended the coaches, the community actually split -- between those who supported the victims' families, and those who wanted to save the coaches and the season. Youth sports are becoming too intense for young children to keep up with. 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. 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! Berger sayshe got up and called his dad, who went straight to thecoaches. Due to the poormoral character of your children, Kristina saysCaramore told the parents, this investigationis not moving forward. She stood up and askedDidden twice if any child had been threatened beforethe camp incidents. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Conway could have sentenced the three including Phil Sofia, 17, and Ken Carney, 16 to juvenile jail until they turned 21 or he could have given them probation. 49 - 18 W. The coaches also showed 48 Hours a tape never before made public - one they say was recorded on the last day of camp. For a select number of fortunate athletes, that dream becomes a reality when they commit to a school and sign their letter of intent. We love kids. Some have hired lawyers for their children. "We're not suggesting anything about injuries. ", Are they lying? Heand a group of kids have me surrounded. My father was agreat man, he begins, and tells a story of howhis dad once saw a crashed, burning car, pulled overand ran to help, and discovered that the guy trappedin the passengers seat was a friend.