Four sophomores from Damascus High School in Montgomery County, Maryland are being charged as adults and one other as a juvenile after a horrible hazing ritual gone wrong that occurred on October 31st in the Football team’s locker room. According to The Washington Post, The group of 15-year-olds used a broom stick to violate four freshman team members as they tried to escape.
The suspects being tried as adults are Jean Claude Abedi, Kristian Jamal Lee, Will Daniel Smith, and Caleb Thorpe. The attackers went from one victim to the next, laughing, while the victims screamed for help. The suspects are currently 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, according to the Montgomery County District Court.
Montgomery Deputy State Attorney Peter Feeney said in court:
The defendants’ conduct was astonishingly cruel. These crimes were intended to inflict pain, degrade and humiliate the weaker members of the football team.
Each defendant played a significant role in carrying out their plan to sexually assault the victims in this case. 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.
When one of the victims asked the attackers to stop, they responded that it was ‘tradition’.
This case is still underway and no verdict has been reached.
h/t: The Washington Post
