Lawsuit: Weston FC players sexually assaulted teammate on Colombia trip

WESTON — A 14-yearold boy and his family are suing a Weston soccer club alleging teammates sexually assaulted the boy while on a trip to Colombia, according to a lawsuit filed in Broward Circuit Court.

Several older boys from Weston FC accosted the 14-year-old in the hallway of their hotel in Antigua, threw him face down on a bed and sodomized him with a Sharpie marker, the lawsuit said.

“Emotionally and psychologically he’s devastated,” said Andrew Yaffa, the Coral Gables-based lawyer representing the boy and his family.

News of the Jan. 29 “lifealtering sexual assault” had traveled back home to Weston before the boy and his team had even left Colombia, Yaffa said.

“He’s been labeled, he’s been bullied, he’s been ostracized; it’s embarrassing,” Yaffa said.

The suit filed May 29 claims negligence against the traveling soccer club, saying it was responsible for the safety and security of the boy. It seeks damages but does not specify a dollar amount.

The club has a zero-tolerance policy for “unsportsman like behavior, harassment, bullying, intimidation, or violence of any kind,” a Weston FC spokeswoman said in statement.

Weston FC “suspended all players alleged to have been involved,” the statement said.

The lawsuit does not identify the boy. The South Florida Sun Sentinel does not identify possible sex assault victims.

The 14-year-old had played with Weston FC since he was 6. The club includes players ages 6 to 19.

The boy’s parents paid $2,000 for him to make the trip to Colombia so that his team could compete against players from other countries.

The soccer club was familiar with the other boys and young men going on the trip, as well as their tendencies and propensities for hazing, which had occurred on prior trips, the lawsuit said.

“Weston FC has absolutely no knowledge of any past hazing or sexual misconduct, will continue to support and sympathize with the alleged victim and his family, but will vigorously defend this unwarranted action against the Club,” the spokeswoman’s statement said.

On the Colombia trip, boys of similar ages were assigned three to a hotel room. The boy who was assaulted had a room on the third floor. His perpetrators were staying on the fourth floor and should not have been allowed on the third, the lawsuit said.

After dinner, the attackers pushed the boy in the third floor hallway, lifted him off his feet and demanded that he or his roommate unlock their room door, the lawsuit said.

Several of the older teammates stood guard while others restrained the 14-year-old and forcefully assaulted him with the marker.

“[The boy] and his roommates were helpless to defend themselves against these older, stronger young men,” the lawsuit said.