Cheerleader kick off squad for refusing to cheer for her rapist.

Woodchuck · #1 10-28-2010, 07:51 AM

WTH?!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/b...hschool-279675

Cheerleader kicked off team for refusing to cheer for assaulter

A former Texas high school football player pleaded guilty last month to charges he sexually assaulted a former cheerleader, who was kicked off her high school's squad before the player's trial because she refused to cheer for her assaulter.
The strange, twisted tail unfolded in Silsbee, Texas, and when cobbled together from a variety of sources -- including the Associated Press, Beaumont Enterprise and KFDM.com -- it portrays a sad series of events in which a teen was attacked and then lost the sport she loved.

dokazaado · #2 10-28-2010, 07:55 AM

my wife works in Silsbee, TX. it's a backwards hellhole.

neurotictim · #3 10-28-2010, 08:12 AM

Wow. Just wow.

First of all, why the **** are these guys allowed to play? I know my high school would sit you on the bench if your grades were't below a certain standard... And yet three guys with sexual assault charges were allowed to play?

Even the NBA puts their players on hiatus of some sort in similar circumstances, don't they?

Second, she was cheering for everyone else but him - which I completely understand - which leads me back around to why he was being allowed to play in the first place. I understand the school's position on her not cheering, but the circumstance never should have come up... Because he shouldn't be allowed to play.

And even though he plead guilty, he got off with probation and community service - of course he feels that it was "fair."

Grr.

I feel bad for her, but happy I don't live there. Best of luck to this girl.

(Normally I play the devil's advocate on these kinds of stories, where you only hear one side of the story, but not this time - seems pretty straightforward to me.)

superbassman2000 · #4 10-28-2010, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neurotictim

Wow. Just wow.

First of all, why the **** are these guys allowed to play? I know my high school would sit you on the bench if your grades were't below a certain standard... And yet three guys with sexual assault charges were allowed to play?

Even the NBA puts their players on hiatus of some sort in similar circumstances, don't they?

Second, she was cheering for everyone else but him - which I completely understand - which leads me back around to why he was being allowed to play in the first place. I understand the school's position on her not cheering, but the circumstance never should have come up... Because he shouldn't be allowed to play.

And even though he plead guilty, he got off with probation and community service - of course he feels that it was "fair."

Grr.

I feel bad for her, but happy I don't live there. Best of luck to this girl.

(Normally I play the devil's advocate on these kinds of stories, where you only hear one side of the story, but not this time - seems pretty straightforward to me.)

this.

i guess texas really does put a lot of weight on HS football if they will even find a way to keep those players on the field. Their priorities appear backwards

Jonyak · #5 10-28-2010, 09:24 AM

So they get off with a slap on the wrist and she gets punished. wow. just wow.

macaroni tony · #6 10-28-2010, 09:26 AM

boooooo lame

Disraeli Gears · #7 10-28-2010, 09:34 AM

Wow. It's just mind boggling how bass ackwards that is. The rapists get to stay on the team, but the victim gets kicked off for not cheering for her attacker. What's the world coming to?

superfunk47 · #8 10-28-2010, 09:41 AM

Honestly, you guys might want to suspend a bit of judgement since this is all coming from such a horrible quality article. They even admit in the story itself that it was slapped together. THIS IS NOT JOURNALISM. It's sensationalism.

Something obviously happened down there, but without a reliable source giving you the facts, making judgements seems a bit premature.

"The strange, twisted tail unfolded in Silsbee, Texas, and when cobbled together from a variety of sources -- including the Associated Press, Beaumont Enterprise and KFDM.com -- it portrays a sad series of events in which a teen was attacked and then lost the sport she loved."

Who knows if each source they were using to piece their story together had gotten the same story themselves. All I'm saying is to wait for a bit more development before deciding what happened and dealing out judgements.

Mark Latimour · #9 10-28-2010, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superfunk47

Honestly, you guys might want to suspend a bit of judgement since this is all coming from such a horrible quality article. They even admit in the story itself that it was slapped together. THIS IS NOT JOURNALISM. It's sensationalism.

Something obviously happened down there, but without a reliable source giving you the facts, making judgements seems a bit premature.

+1

At the time she was kicked off, the guys were charged and not convicted. IIRC the addage of "innocent until proven guilty" would still have applied. Reading into the story it appears that the time when she "refused to cheer" for him was during a brief period when a Grand Jury withdrew the charges against him and he was allowed back on campus. APparently when he was charged (although not convicted) he was not allowed on campus or to play and it was only when the charges were withdrawn that he was allowed back and played (and this is when the non-cheering incident occurred). Once the charges were reinstated he was taken off the team.

Its also worth noting this comment from the prosecutor about the outcome:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Article

Special prosecutor David Barlow says they're satisfied with the outcome.

"The State feels it's a fair resolution for the victim, and the victim agrees," said Barlow. "I think it's a fair resolution also. The State is happy he has finally come forward and admitted his guilt."

Barlow understands not everyone in the community will be happy with the agreement.

"The community at large does not know all the facts and all the details involved in that," said Barlow. "Only the attorneys and the people involved. They are the ones that know and that's why everyone who was involved in this does believe it was justice and the proper thing to do."

Source: http://www.kfdm.com/articles/former-...hool-high.html

It seems to suggests that there is more to the actual case against the accused than is reported into the OP's article.

macaroni tony · #10 10-28-2010, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

+1

At the time she was kicked off, the guys were charged and not convicted. IIRC the addage of "innocent until proven guilty" would still have applied. Reading into the story it appears that the time when she "refused to cheer" for him was during a brief period when a Grand Jury withdrew the charges against him and he was allowed back on campus. APparently when he was charged (although not convicted) he was not allowed on campus or to play and it was only when the charges were withdrawn that he was allowed back and played (and this is when the non-cheering incident occurred). Once the charges were reinstated he was taken off the team.

Well I got all that from the article, but it still blows hard that she got kicked off the squad for not cheering for the guy that raped her by name. She still did the rest of the cheers.

**nutdog** · #11 10-28-2010, 09:55 AM

I refuse to suspend judgment until proven facts conflict with my preconceived notions based on rumor, innuendo and one sided presentations.

Clark Dark · #12 10-28-2010, 09:56 AM

mislaid priorities..football is everything, even at the high school level in texas. if the guy was a star player the more the young lady would have had to provide positive proof against a swirl of backlash from alumnus. the cheerleader gets victimized twice. sad

SteveC · #13 10-28-2010, 09:56 AM

I'm not surprised. The "good guy" often gets the shaft in this country in our quest to be certain we don't wrongly prosecute an innocent person. Whatever.

Of course, this is Texas where football and cheerleading rule. Didn't a mom kill a girl or something a while back because of a cheerleading issue?

Mark Latimour · #14 10-28-2010, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macaroni tony

Well I got all that from the article, but it still blows hard that she got kicked off the squad for not cheering for the guy that raped her by name. She still did the rest of the cheers.

It seems harsh, but the timelines are odd. Lets say it was over a year later (which it appears to be). The guys have been charged and the charges dropped. According to the law, this player is presumed innocent. By not chanting his name in the manner that is expected of her in her role, she is effectively pointing the finger at him publically. Now I can totally understand why she would do that and, if it were me, I would do the same or even quit the team. However, if I was the manager of the team I would at a minimum withdraw her from the games when he was playing (assuming I knew the backstory) or perhaps fire her. Ultimately she has to do her job and it wouldn't be appropriate to use her "job" as a method of pointing out someone she is accusing of rape if (as was the case at the time), the law had found him innocent.

I think its a pretty sad case and it seems harsh, but I can see why the team acted the way they did.

Stanley Design · #15 10-28-2010, 10:13 AM

Ever hear of innocent until proven guilty? Why should the dude be benched, possibly screwing up scholarships or the season, over accusations? That wouldn't fly in my book. Bench him once he's found guilty sure, not before. Unfortunate situation.

Valerus · #16 10-28-2010, 11:23 AM

How did I know this would have happened around my town?

powderfinger · #17 10-28-2010, 11:47 AM

Lets dont rush to judgement against the football player... sure, if he is gulity, then he is a scumbag who doesnt deserve to play at all, and god bless the cheerleader.

ONLY reason I say dont rush judgement is because about 20 years ago in high school, I had a girlfriend, who I ended up breaking up with in 11th grade. She apparently took it all too hard. She came to school 2-3 days later with a (self inflicted) busted lip, and told everyone I had beaten her up. I was the scourge of school for a while, until my parents came up to talk to the principal. They luckily were my alibi, as I was with them all afternoon and evening on the alleged night I "beat her". THe girl ended up in SERIOUS trouble with the school for doing this.

The aftermath for me was horrible. I had friends and people turn their back on me because of her. I never forgave them for denying my word. Good thing I know Judo. I ended up having to give a Judo throw in the bathroom once when her new boyfriend started crap with me in there.
These girls can RUIN reputations... especially in the day of internet.

I thank GOD there was no Facebook back then.... geez...

SteveC · #18 10-28-2010, 11:47 AM

It's the same up here except it's hockey players. They get away with anything, and while they wait for their trial, the get to play, so eventually when there's punishment, it isn't because they got to play the season anyway.

Deluge Of Sound · #19 10-28-2010, 11:51 AM

WalterBush · #20 10-28-2010, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveC

Of course, this is Texas where football and cheerleading rule.

And here's the key...I was raised in the metroplex (the D/FW area, for those non-Texans), played on the school football team, rubbed elbows (unfortunately, nothing more) with the cheerleaders up until high school...cheerleaders get coddled as much as football players. Don't be so quick to assume that any substantial charges would be dismissed and ignored because he was a football player, she a mere cheerleader. It's not quite that simple. Both are taken very seriously in the Lone Star state.

It doesn't look like such a simple case to me, it looks more like the website in the OP wanted to cobble together a story that allowed them to print a headline.

EDIT: To clarify, something bad obviously happened...it just doesn't look like as straightforward a perversion of justice as the headline claims.