Four Maryland high school football players are facing multiple charges — including rape — for allegedly partaking in a brutal sexual assault against four of their younger teammates inside a locker room on Halloween night.According to local reports, the four alleged victims were freshmen at Damascus High School, while the alleged assailants — all 15, but charged as adults — were sophomores. The handle of a four-foot broom was allegedly used to sodomize the younger students.“The defendants’ conduct was astonishingly cruel,” Montgomery Deputy State’s Attorney Peter Feeney said in court Monday,reports WJLA. “These crimes were intended to inflict pain, degrade and humiliate the weaker members of the football team.”Feeney described the allegations in court, alleging the sophomores assaulted each freshman individually. At least two of the defendants could be heard laughing, and two of the alleged victims could be heard yelling and screaming, Feeney said.“Each defendant played a significant role in carrying out their plan to sexually assault the victims in this case,” Feeney argued, “whether it was pushing, punching, stomping, holding down, tackling or wielding the broom. The crimes could only have been committed with the active participation of each defendant.”According to WTOP, the suspects are each charged with one count of first-degree rape, three counts of attempted first-degree rape and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree rape.The station reports that the suspects were identified as Jean Claude Abedi of Clarksburg; Kristian Jamal Lee of Germantown; Will Daniel Smith of Clarksburg; and Caleb Thorpe of Gaithersburg.The boys have been released on $20,000 bonds. Like the victims, the alleged assailants were all members of Damascus’s junior varsity team.A fifth team member has been charged as a juvenile. It was unknown if he was still in custody.The Associated Press reportsthat two of the suspects and two of the victims told authorities the purported incidents was part of a hazing ritual long established at the school.Local news outlets report that the defendants’ attorneys addressed the allegations in court Monday.David Felsen, who represents Smith, said in court Monday the case was still “developing,” and that “different people say different people did different things … I think this is an ever-changing circumstance.”Meanwhile, WTOP reports that lawyer Jason Downs said his client, Lee, had a “stellar background” and was an honors student. He said the police allegations indicate his client has “lesser culpability” than the others charged in the case.• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.Attorney Shelly Brown, who represents Thorpe, noted that his parents and three of his grandparents were all in court to support him. Thorpe said her client is also an honors student who “is very active in his church.”Daniel Wright, an attorney for Abedi, said that his client succumbed to “peer pressure and group psychology,” adding: “This is a hazing incident that went to extremes.”
Four Maryland high school football players are facing multiple charges — including rape — for allegedly partaking in a brutal sexual assault against four of their younger teammates inside a locker room on Halloween night.
According to local reports, the four alleged victims were freshmen at Damascus High School, while the alleged assailants — all 15, but charged as adults — were sophomores. The handle of a four-foot broom was allegedly used to sodomize the younger students.
“The defendants’ conduct was astonishingly cruel,” Montgomery Deputy State’s Attorney Peter Feeney said in court Monday,reports WJLA. “These crimes were intended to inflict pain, degrade and humiliate the weaker members of the football team.”
Feeney described the allegations in court, alleging the sophomores assaulted each freshman individually. At least two of the defendants could be heard laughing, and two of the alleged victims could be heard yelling and screaming, Feeney said.
“Each defendant played a significant role in carrying out their plan to sexually assault the victims in this case,” Feeney argued, “whether it was pushing, punching, stomping, holding down, tackling or wielding the broom. The crimes could only have been committed with the active participation of each defendant.”
According to WTOP, the suspects are each charged with one count of first-degree rape, three counts of attempted first-degree rape and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree rape.
The station reports that the suspects were identified as Jean Claude Abedi of Clarksburg; Kristian Jamal Lee of Germantown; Will Daniel Smith of Clarksburg; and Caleb Thorpe of Gaithersburg.
The boys have been released on $20,000 bonds. Like the victims, the alleged assailants were all members of Damascus’s junior varsity team.
A fifth team member has been charged as a juvenile. It was unknown if he was still in custody.
The Associated Press reportsthat two of the suspects and two of the victims told authorities the purported incidents was part of a hazing ritual long established at the school.
Local news outlets report that the defendants’ attorneys addressed the allegations in court Monday.
David Felsen, who represents Smith, said in court Monday the case was still “developing,” and that “different people say different people did different things … I think this is an ever-changing circumstance.”
Meanwhile, WTOP reports that lawyer Jason Downs said his client, Lee, had a “stellar background” and was an honors student. He said the police allegations indicate his client has “lesser culpability” than the others charged in the case.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
Attorney Shelly Brown, who represents Thorpe, noted that his parents and three of his grandparents were all in court to support him. Thorpe said her client is also an honors student who “is very active in his church.”
Daniel Wright, an attorney for Abedi, said that his client succumbed to “peer pressure and group psychology,” adding: “This is a hazing incident that went to extremes.”
source: people.com
