A black teenager with disabilities was sexually assaulted by football players at Dietrich High School but one of the suspects will no longer face jail time as per a plea deal with the state. This decision by the state has sparked a major outrage from an Idaho activism group, noting that the incident was racist.
The activism group was identified as Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. They posted a statement online asking Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to take action against Deputy Attorney General Casey Hemmer.
The group pointed out that Hemmer's actions regarding the case dehumanize the young black male teenager who was penetrated with items at a locker room at the high school. They noted that the statements of Hemmer "fuels and sanctions our culture of sexism, racism, able-ism, domination, aggression and violence." Hemmer said last Friday that although the actions of the football player made the victim suffer, it does not amount to a sex crime.
Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence continued to say the teenager who was brutally penetrated by the white football players was viewed less than the ideal stereotype of who are masculine. They also said the crime was a sex crime and the players were racist.
One of the football players, 19-year-old John R.K. Howard, entered a plea deal last week and his charges were then reduced to injury to a child. He was accused of sexually assaulting the victim with a coat hanger while others participated or watched the incident.
Howard was said to have stomped on the hanger while it was inside the teenager several times, Scary Mommy reported. The sexually assaulted teenager, on the other hand, was reportedly suffering from mental disorders such as learning disabilities, Huffington Post reported.
Howard will then serve two to three years of probation and will no longer be mandated to register as a sex offender. A judge is expected to accept the plea deal by Feb. 24. The charge initially carried a maximum of life imprisonment.
The football player and all the other players were said to be white. The victim was taunted by these players and was called names such as the "n" word, chicken-eater, watermelon and many more. Howard was identified as the leader of the abuse and was sent to Idaho to live with his relatives because he could not keep out of trouble in Texas.
Meanwhile, the family of the victim filed a $10 million lawsuit against the school and 11 of its staff, such as the administrators and coaches. They were accused of not being able to stop the abuse.
