Defendant’s father challenges District Attorney
Dorian Ross questions how Tredyffrin/Easttown case was handled
Dorian Ross, the father of one of the defendants in the Conestoga High School hazing case, said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan has not yet brought the case to court, is intentionally dragging the process out, and attempting to save face after making the case a national incident without sufficient evidence to prosecute.
Ross said he believes Hogan does not have sufficient evidence to successfully prosecute the case, stating he only has a handful of witnesses and nothing else.
“I don’t think he has a lot,” he said during an interview with the Daily Local News. “If he had that much strength in the case, it would’ve been in court already.”
Of the witnesses, he said the police reportedly used heavy-handed methods to extract confessions from players who were at least 18 years of age. According to Ross, the police allegedly threatened to charge witnesses if they refused to talk.
Tredyffrin Police Superintendent Anthony Giaimo deferred comment for this article to Hogan.
When asked for comment, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement by email:
“These claims are simply not accurate. The delays in this case have uniformly come from the defense. The commonwealth has been ready and willing to try this case for months.
“We suggest that Mr. Ross consult his counsel before continuing to shop inaccurate information to the media. This is the same selective story that he has been delivering to other media. We often see this tactic, in both socialmedia and regular media, from family members of people charged with crimes.
“This case was carefully reviewed by multiple layers of police and prosecutors. The commonwealth will see Mr. Ross in court, where he may present his version of the truth.”
An attempt to reach Ross’ attorney for comment was unsuccessful.
Ross’ statements come on the heels of reports about a video of the alleged hazing victim giving conflicting testimony about the validity of the sodomy accusations. The video was delivered to the news media earlier. Edits have been made to the video to withhold the identity of the alleged juvenile victim, and to withhold the identity of other football players mentioned in the dialogue. In addition, Ross’ claims come after the revelation that the father of the alleged victim reported the incident to the school months after it occurred, and about one week after he received a $13,000 bill from the school district.
Roughly one week before the alleged victim’s father brought the sodomy claim before the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, the father received a bill from the school district for a little over $13,000 after an internal investigation determined the alleged victim did not actually live within the district’s boundaries, according to court records. The school sought repayment for the time the alleged hazing victim attended T/E, and for the time he spent at Buxmont Academy after he was expelled for alleged sexting related charges, according to court records.
“If the DA doesn’t see that, if he refuses to see that, it’s very disgusting,” Ross said, referring to the amount of time after the bill was issued and the incident reported.
Ross said his son never gave a statement to the police, and while he has not been convicted of anything, his son must check into Juvenile Probation at least once a week.
Prior to any charges in this case, Ross said he asked the investigating detectives on two separate occasions if his son was a suspect. He said both times the answer from detectives was no.
Ross also claimed that police interviewed some players without their parents present, although it is not clear if those players were under 18. He also called the entire investigation “sloppy.”
Additionally, Ross said his son had been offered a consent decree by Juvenile Probation. As he explained it, his son would plead guilty to a lesser charge — something he and his son refused to do.
Ross also said his son had a pretrial hearing originally set for May 12, but was told by a juvenile correctional officer it was postponed because Hogan needed more time.
Hogan announced the charges against the three high school football players on March 4. Over the course of a few days, news of the charges and the alleged sodomy spread across the nation. In the following months, few answers surfaced since juvenile case proceedings are not open to the public.
“Everyone is waiting on the DA to see what he’s gonna do,” Ross said, sharing his opinion of Hogan. “I was optimistic it was gonna be resolved by now. Legal fees are piling up; he doesn’t care.”
To contact Daily Local News staff writer Adam Farence, email afarence@dailylocal.com, or call 610235-2647.