Rape, assault allegations emerge in Robertson football hazing case
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Six players suspended as investigation into camp hazing unfolds
8/18/2008 - 8/19/08
The allegations against a group of Las Vegas, N.M., football players accused of hazing younger players at a football camp last week include assault, battery, false imprisonment and molestation or rape, a state police spokesman said Monday.Details about the hazing — which involved members of the Robertson High School varsity football team — remained murky Monday, though Capt. Robert Shilling of the state police Investigations Bureau confirmed the allegations included sodomy with a broom handle.
"Those are the allegations we're most concerned about," Shilling said.
State police detectives are scheduled to meet today with members of the District Attorney's Office in Las Vegas and brief prosecutors on what they've learned to date, Shilling said. That meeting will determine what happens next in the investigation.
Meanwhile, six football players are on a 10-day suspension and have been removed from the team, said Rick Romero, Las Vegas City Schools superintendent. The entire coaching staff — including first-year head coach Ray Woods and three assistants — as well as the school's athletic director, Mike Yara, were placed on leave with pay pending the outcome of the state police investigation, he said.
Romero declined to release details of the hazing, though he said it involved more than one incident, which took place between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon. He also said he didn't know if any of the players who were allegedly hazed were hospitalized or injured during the incidents.
Romero declined to specify the number of alleged victims. Asked if the previously reported number of six victims was correct, Romero said, "That's pretty close." Shilling said there are as few as six potential victims and as many as eight.
Philip Leger, a member of the Las Vegas School Board, said Monday that he was told between five and seven players were victimized. All of the suspended players are juniors, while he believes all of the alleged victims are freshmen, he said. He said the seniors on the team were angry when they heard the allegations of what happened.
"I understand the seniors were very upset about it," Leger said. "They were upset these individuals took it upon themselves to do something like this. They disobeyed the coaches."
Coaches warned players before the camp — which took place at Western Life Camp in Gallinas Canyon, 15 miles northwest of Las Vegas — that there was to be no hazing, he said. Leger said he heard the incidents occurred Tuesday afternoon, "in broad daylight," while coaches, parents and others were around.
Leger said he'd heard allegations about one coach who saw what was happening and didn't do anything, though parents and players have told him that was false. "None of the coaches knew was going on," he said.
Leger also said Romero was not pleased he didn't hear about the incidents until Thursday afternoon. Romero said he isn't clear on the chronology of events, but if the hazing happened Tuesday and adults found out about it soon after, he would have expected to know before 3:30 p.m. Thursday, when Yara, the athletic director, called him.
Toby Dolan, a state police captain at the agency's office in Las Vegas, said his 15-year-old son plays football for Robertson and attended the camp last week. Dolan declined to release specifics about what his son told him occurred because he didn't want to compromise the integrity of his colleagues' investigation. He did say his son was not a victim.
"He was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time and wasn't victimized at the camp," Dolan said.
Dolan said his son, a sophomore, didn't witness anything inappropriate or see evidence of anything inappropriate. However, Coy Dolan did see "some emotions on kids that troubled him," Toby Dolan said.
"They were visibly upset," Toby Dolan said. "He was definitely troubled over kids being victimized."
Toby Dolan said the allegations are troubling to him as well, though he pointed out it's important to let investigators go in and figure out what happened before jumping to conclusions.
Mel Root, who runs the Western Life Camp, said everything seemed to be going smoothly at the camp until Thursday afternoon, just before the team was scheduled to leave. At that time, coaches began pulling players aside and Root noticed the players' demeanors completely change. "It was like night and day," he said.
State police investigators visited the camp on Friday, and Root said he showed them two bunkhouses where the incidents may have occurred. He said each bunkhouse has a broom. He declined to say if investigators seized the brooms from the two bunkhouses.
Richard Martinez, a longtime wrestling coach in the district, and Pat Garcia, another district coach, were set to take over coaching the Robertson football team. Leger said the team was scheduled to practice Monday after school.
Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.
