Wednesday, May 19, 2010

It Was A Sexual Assault Parents Claim

 

The parents of one of the victims is saying several former Carmel High School basketball players sexually assaulted their son not on once, twice but on several occasions. Their son complained to a coach, but the parents said he did nothing about it. The parents say they are now speaking out because testimony leaking out of the grand jury proceedings conducted by Hamilton Co. Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp indicated that their son wanted what he got. Leerkamp has only brought battery and criminal recklessness charges against the basketball players in the case based on the grand jury's conclusions. When questioned by reporters about the type of claims made by this victim's attorney, Leerkamp told them not to believe "rumor and innuendo." Their attorney insists felony, and not misdemeanor, charges should have been brought in this case. I wondered whether the female prosecutors handling this case would have viewed the case differently if the victims had been girls instead of a 14-year-old boy. In this case, it seems this victim was also black in a very white school where many of the students come from wealthy families.

1 comment:

Marycatherine Barton said...

Thank goodness this is Sonia Leerkamp's last year as Hamilton Co. Prosecutor. I still cringe when I remember her statements and deportment, at that televised press conference on Tuesday. It is no wonder that so many children do not report batteries and bullying.