theignoramus
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Teen pleads guilty in Dietrich locker room attack
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Oh and the victim? Since the assault, he's tried to kill himself and suffers from constant flashbacks to the crime. What's a family to do when the prosecutor cares more about the perpetrator's well being than the victim? And refuses to charge appropriately? This failure of the justice system is inviting the victim's family or friends to do vigilante things.
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A Dietrich high school football player originally charged with sexually assaulting a black, mentally disabled teammate after an October 2015 football practice pleaded guilty to a lesser felony Friday, and prosecutors now say it wasnt a sex crime or racially motivated.
John R.K Howard, 19, of Keller, Tex., pleaded guilty Friday in a Twin Falls courtroom to a felony count of injury to a child. He will be sentenced to two to three years of probation, which hell likely be able to complete in Texas, and prosecutors will recommend he be ordered to serve 300 hours of community service.
But Howard will avoid prison or jail time and could ultimately have his conviction dismissed if he successfully completes probation without violations or committing new crimes. And by submitting an Alford plea, he maintains his innocence while acknowledging prosecutors would likely be able to win a conviction at trial.
But Hemmer also told Stoker that while Howards behavior was egregious and caused the victim a lot of suffering, it was not a sex crime, and thats why the attorney generals office amended the charge to the lesser felony. Court reports said a clothes hanger had been kicked into the victims rectum.
We dont believe its appropriate for Mr. Howard to suffer the consequences of a sex offender, Hemmer said. But he still needs to be held accountable.
Despite the court proceedings, a $10 million civil lawsuit filed by the victim is still making its way through U.S. District Court. It claims the locker room attack was the culmination of months of severe and pervasive harassment, racial discrimination, mental and physical assault and battery. It claims the district, school administrators and football coaches were aware of or should have been aware of the abuse.
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The civil suit does not name Howard as a defendant but did single him out as a large and aggressive male who had been sent to live with his relatives in Idaho due to his inability to keep out of trouble in Texas. The civil suit claims Howard brought with him from Texas a culture of racial hatred toward the victim, and that his bullying was ignored by administrators and coaches at least in part due to his athletic ability and community connections.
The civil suit accuses Howard of humping and taunting the victim during football practices, forcing him to learn a Ku Klux Klan song while displaying a Confederate flag, knocking him unconscious during football camp as coaches and players cheered in a circle, and calling him racially charged names like Kool-Aid, chicken-eater, watermelon and nigger
Oh and the victim? Since the assault, he's tried to kill himself and suffers from constant flashbacks to the crime. What's a family to do when the prosecutor cares more about the perpetrator's well being than the victim? And refuses to charge appropriately? This failure of the justice system is inviting the victim's family or friends to do vigilante things.