The victims didn't tell us. On Bellmore Avenue, themain drag in town, a mile or so east of Mepham,Docs Pub serves as an unofficial class-reunionspace. On 11/4, the Mepham varsity football team won their home conference game against MacArthur (Levittown, NY) by a score of 14-7. Youve got some Janning to do! 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.) 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). On October 6, heannounced that that was his intention. 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. No!! Now the . A player tried to flush his head in a urinal. Oh, Loosey! 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. He called the school boards decision 100 percent unjust.. He was dyingto play for the Pirateshed gotten AmosZereoues autograph when Zereoue visited hisjunior high. 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. According to a local new report, two older students called the boy to the back of the bus and, in addition to the wedgie, punched the 13-year-old in the groin and stomach all as a part of an initiation ritual. Berger produced the requiredslip of paper. 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. Anotherparent, Jim Rullo, delivers a prepared statement onbehalf of the victims families. Bells toll. Broomsticks dipped in mineral ice, a kind of liquid heat, golf balls, pine cones and toothbrushes, were all pushed into the boy's rectums. Its all fun and games, saysMcDermott. We're checking it off. But others angrily argue that not enough attention is being paid to the victims' ordeals. Does heknow this for sure? He wrestled instead. 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. Thepurported ringleader, according to police, was thelineman. 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. The team did it along with some guidance from my assistant coach and the parents. 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 . (516) 569-4000, To donate or for more information, click here, Chamber, mayors office are no match for the Thunderbolts. Mysons season has been completely fucked up! The school's 2003 football season was canceled amid allegations that three varsity football players sexually assaulted three . some by the crimes, others by the cancellation of the season. A few blocks from school, Allie Pagano and Sarah Mirenda, both 14, stop at the local pizza shop, Luigi's, on their way home. The superintendent, while admonishing the team for notcooperating with the investigation, has also putforward a tidy defense of McElroy and the principal,Didden. I'm grabbing all the medication out of my cabinet and looking for everything that I think he's gonna hurt himself. Please enter valid email address to continue. Over the next few days, the broomstick assaults were repeated. Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. That boy was not hurt at camp, but other kids were. The Bellmore-Merrick Board of Education voted unanimously tonight to cancel this year's football season at a Long Island high school that had been reeling from allegations that three older. This was a sexual attack!, Are we gonna argue about this? 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. "He was screaming. "Something happened in between those practices every single time, to my son. Once rated one of the best academic high. Nor did he suspendthe three alleged perpetrators, and as a result, theywere allowed to walk the hallways of Mepham High fornearly two weeks. Everybody knew I got hazed in the lockerroom, he says. "He made that statement and from that day on, he's been, his family, harassed by letters and threats," says Carol. 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. 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. Here's why food advocates are worried they cant afford it. Theyre sick of reporters, andtheyre worried about the lineman. Everything Everywhere All at Once has won in every category they were nominated for. The owner of the store posted a sign in his window earlier this month: ''We are Bellmore. NEW 'REAGAN' DEBATE - GOP RIPS SHOWTIME FOR TAKING SERIES Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, Buster Murdaugh got 'very drunk' with dad 2 months after mom, brother murdered: source, I'm a professional cleaner ditch these 4 household products immediately, Shoeless Ariana Madix awkwardly tries to avoid cheating Tom Sandoval, Prince Harry was scared to lose Meghan Markle after fight that led to therapy, Prince Harry says psychedelics are fundamental part of his life, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant allegedly flashes gun at a strip club, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss planned to tell Ariana Madix about affair. I was by far the besthalfback on the team, Berger says, now 23 butstill angry. , 2023-02-08, 18:25:23 How long has it been since you've licked a high school girls pussy daddy? As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Travis Barkers Finger Is Now the Enema of Blink-182 Fans. When people talked aboutMepham, they talked about Famous Amos. "I had a personal conversation with one of the victims daily, and not once did he indicate to me that anything was wrong," says Cannestro. On the second day, the incidents became brutal. (516) 569-4000, To donate or for more information, click here, Chamber, mayors office are no match for the Thunderbolts. Four members of the faculty were either fired or forced out because of the scandal. David Woycik, a lawyer for the victims, said, My clients were relieved that [Sofia and Carney] will be out of the community and off the streets and they are pleased the judicial system worked to a certain extent.. In this case the youth should be tried as adults because of the severity of the incident and the emotional and physical effect that it had on the victim, It was six o 'clock at the Friendswood junior high mustang field I was playing strong safety and I had to cover the extra receiver they brought out by the snap I was already beating my man and the next thing I know the ball was sailing my way straight to me. Which mayexplain why Coach Mac, in his only public statement,has concurred with Caramore. Half that shit they didisnt even that bad.. We've received your submission. "I couldn't even process it in my head. The conversation easily shifts to a defenseof Coach Mac. Watch this highlight video of the Mepham (North Bellmore, NY) football team in its game Recap: Mepham vs. MacArthur 2022 on Nov 4, 2022. McElroy hadnothing to do with this kid, Joe Rosenthalsays. But then come the off-color jokes about broomsticks and pine cones from his friends. 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. '', Report Says Hazing Culture Led to Attacks On 3 Athletes, https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/nyregion/report-says-hazing-culture-led-to-attacks-on-3-athletes.html. The coaches are suing to get their jobs back. He never brought this incident toMcElroys attention; he must have brought it tothe JV coachs attention. There are the ugly jokes, the signs and buttons declaring neighborhood solidarity, and for some people, new-found activism. 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. Wesley?Wesley was a nasty rat bastard! It is in the best interests of our students and the success of our program that the present coaches not be re-appointed, said Bellmore-Merrick school-board member Norbert Billig. We wanted them to be tried as adults, but we lost that battle. Should a person get paid just for showing up for there a job and not actually doing anything? 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! Including dishwasher-safe Japanese porcelain, two sets of French-made knives, and a sleek kettle. And I can't ever get that back from him," says Patty. Thelinemans fathers death on October 5created one delay in moving the case forward; otherdelays have been due to the attorneys effortsto bring the case back to juvenile status, and tonegotiate their clients surrender into custody. 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. He cites essays abouthazing from the Internet, including an academic paperby Elizabeth Allan of the University of Maine thatincludes in a long list of hazing activitiessexual simulation and sexual assault., The conduct took place in a juvenilesetting, Alter argues. We love kids. Dozens of Long Island parents outraged at the handling of broomstick hazing assaults at a Mepham High School football camp are organizing a secret meeting tomorrow to plan action against. That, thelineman says, is the kind of man his father was. I heard the kidliked it.. 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. 28 - 13 W. 10/22/2022. "He was laying in bed with a big butcher knife in his hand 'cause he was scared. Offscreen, he was one himself. Who doyou think you are? said the lineman, accordingto Reichsteins son. The coaches' lawyer and officials for the Bellmore-Merrick School District did not comment on the report's findings or its criticisms. ''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. I need to see a doctor,'" says Carol. No," says McElroy. Kevin McElroy, the man in charge of the football camp and Mepham High School's head coach, has remained silent for the last six months. Berger sayshe got up and called his dad, who went straight to thecoaches. It has been 11 years since three football players, ages 15 to 17, from Mepham High School in Bellmore, New York, were criminally charged with sodomizing teammates during a preseason. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Theres no way youcant play me. Students attend a pep rally at Mepham High School in Bellmore, N.Y. Not, 'Coach, things aren't good over here.' Jason Statham and Aubrey Plaza do not seem like a match made in action-comedy-chemistry heaven, but it somehow works. 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. Parents demanded:Shouldnt they have been there to stop theseboys? When several parents received threatening letters after speaking out about the incident, emotions ratcheted higher. The question has whirled aroundBellmore for weeks: Who would raise a child who woulddo this to another child? "We're not animals. 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. The father died on October 5a daybefore news broke that the lineman may be tried as anadult for some 26 felonies stemming from events thattook place over several late nights in August atMephams football-training camp in Wayne County,Pennsylvania. In that case, new players at. Were more Jewish! another kidyells, laughing. School administrators, however, let him get on the bus anyway. 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. Students should not have to tryout for school sports. But he wonders whether whathappened at camp could have been prevented if hehadnt settled his lawsuit. And I know the family of one of theattackers. A day later, the threeboys were suspended, and a student. There were no screams like that.". On 11/11, the Mepham varsity football team won their neutral playoff game against Long Beach (NY) by a score of 14-0. My sonthinks its just a bad thing that went too far,too fast., Andy mentions what some people are sayingthatwhat happened at camp was part of a pattern of hazingat Mepham. He suggests that broomsticks,golf balls, and pinecones are consistent withtraditional forms of hazing. But other voices emerge at the meeting, corroboratingthe victims contention that hazing is a fact oflife at Mepham. Since returning from camp, he has barely slept. But for the victims' families, the report came as a vindication, they said. Trending News Webuilt a very good tradition with our team, and we justwant to make sure that anyone who wants to fit in onthe team knows about the tradition.. In my opinion, a good education is so very important for our countrys youth, especially the athletes. "He was robbed of his innocence. I don't have psychic skills. ", Patty says her son also hasn't recovered from the ordeal: "About a month ago, I had gotten a call from a neighbor. 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. } "He's victimized because I asked him to do a favor in this. }, First published on April 12, 2004 / 5:10 PM. maize high school basketball roster. However, some would argue to say high school football is too dangerous to keep around. I should just sit there and go, 'Hmm, he's hazing him.' Expect to be held accountablefor your choices and actions. Be truthful.From The Mepham Way, Mepham HighSchools honor code, 48 MINUTES OF HELL, A LIFETIME TO REMEMBERSlogan on a Mepham Pirates football T-shirt. We said, 'Are they hurting you?' When athletes experience head trauma, they only recover a little, which might end their career early or other times people never recover. 10 /r/oldmenvssluts2, 2023-02-07, 11:04:47 California makes flag football a girls' high school sport 56 /r/california , 2023-02-05, 17:36:57 . The answer to all those questions is no.". They hit his headon the porcelain and he got a concussion. Athletes must commit time to practice and traveling. Trust me been there done that, the most regretted thing about school sports for many are tryouts. "We went out. 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. Theres fury and finger-pointingandopportunityon all sides in this corner of LongIsland. "He said to him, 'Don't even think of sleeping at football camp. The incident angered the victim's mother, who. And one of the leaders selected joined with two other varsity players to sodomize these children. For Carol's son, it doesn't end. These individuals hope to be part of something special, whether its achieving individual goals or team goals. "He missed the whole first, basically, semester. 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. 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. Then it became a football school. During the first day of camp, the hazing was minor, such as one player smearing gel and powder into another's hair. "They had bags of ice and they were bashing it all over his body until the bags broke. During his career, the prolific actor inhabited an array of troubled characters. Instead, they were treated as juveniles. Duct tape was yanked from the victims' bottoms and pubic areas, and two of the victims were forced to smear Mineral Ice on their testicles, and then kick each other there, the report says. 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). says Cannestro. And he's looking for something in the house to hurt himself.' All rights reserved. How could we have known?". At least one group of parents has decided they will continue to speak out. On 11/4, the Mepham varsity football team won their home playoff game against Elmont Memorial (Elmont, NY) by a score of 14-7.