Exfootball player gets probation in hazing case

Lawyer: Victim did not want to see man’s ‘life ruined’

MILFORD — A former Seymour High School football player charged with assaulting a teammate with a broomstick during a 2015 hazing incident will likely see the case dismissed after a judge on Thursday granted his application for a special form of probation.

The program, accelerated rehabilitation, is a loosely supervised form of probation by which firsttime offenders can have criminal charges against them dropped if they stay out of trouble.

The victim in the case did not object to the judge granting the application.

The defendant in the case, now 20 years old, was 16 at the time of the incident, which took place in August 2015.

He was initially charged in juvenile court with thirddegree sexual assault, thirddegree assault, seconddegree reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a minor.

However, the case was eventually transferred to adult court, where prosecutors filed new charges of two counts of thirddegree assault.

State’s Attorney Margaret Kelley said police were informed of the incident in May 2018, nearly two and a half years after it happened, when the victim in the case told a teacher, who then reported it.

The investigation led to the team’s head coach being placed on administrative leave and three assistant coaches leaving the program.

Specific details of the incident are not clear. Kelley said several people were present during the alleged assault who gave statements indicating “varying degrees of what had transpired.”

The prosecutor did not object to the former player’s application for accelerated rehabilitation after meeting with the victim in the case.

“His position is very commendable,” Kelley said of the victim. “He did not want to see the defendant’s life ruined going forward. He took a very admirable position.”

She asked Judge Peter Brown to impose a significant term of community service as part of the probationary term.

A lawyer representing the victim did not object to the program, but said she might seek statements from the investigation as part of a lawsuit her client filed last year.

Manuel Suarez, a lawyer representing the defendant, said peer pressure played a part in the incident, which he said “was an event in which multiple team members allegedly took part.”

“The events occurred in the context of a locker room hazing event that may have gone sideways,” Suarez said. “My client certainly disputes some of the allegations but he is certainly aware of the magnitude of the event.”

He said his client is very remorseful and is now in

college, where he plays sports and is pursuing a business administration degree.

“I am certain this court will never see my client in either this court or any court in the future,” he said. “He is a man who is currently on the right path. This was certainly an aberration.”

Brown then granted the accelerated rehabilitation application and continued the case to Sept. 5, 2021, at which point the charges will be dismissed if the defendant doesn’t get arrested again and performs 100 hours of community service.

The judge also ordered the former player to stay away from the victim in the case.