Judge gives high school athlete probation, service in assault

DIETRICH, Idaho — An Idaho judge has sentenced a high school football player to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service after prosecutors said he took part in a locker room sexual assault on a black football player in a small Idaho town.

District Court Judge Randy Stoker sentenced John R.K. Howard of Keller, Texas, on Friday. The TimesNews reports that Stoker’s decision included granting a withheld judgment, which means the teen’s conviction could one day be dismissed.

Howard was originally charged with sexually assaulting his classmate with a coat hanger during the October 2015 incident at Dietrich High School. But in December, Howard pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child as part of a modified guilty plea — known as an Alford plea — in which he acknowledged he would be found guilty in a trial but maintained his innocence.

Howard, who is white, is the only accused assailant whose criminal case was handled in adult court. Two others faced charges in closed juvenile court; one of them has pleaded guilty.

Meanwhile, the victim’s family has sued the school district for $10 million in damages, contending the assault was the culmination of months of racist taunts and physical abuse at the high school. The lawsuit is still pending.

However, on Friday, Howard’s attorney, Brad Calbo, argued that the case was not about racism nor was it about rape. Calbo says that Howard kicked the victim, but did not kick the hanger on purpose.

“The racist stuff, it’s not there,” Calbo said. “They’re absurd allegations … this has all been blown out of proportion for the pursuit of money.”

Deputy Attorney General Casey Hemmer also said that a medical examination of the victim found no internal or external injuries, adding that the victim did say an assault occurred in the locker room.

The victim’s adoptive parents walked out of the hearing during Calbo’s presentation. They declined to comment, other than refer to the mother’s comments made earlier in the hearing, explaining to the judge that she “felt the plea was so unfair.”