Prosecutors Tuesday filed charges against three teenage boys accused of sexually assaulting four fellow students as part of a hazing ritual among soccer players at La Puente High School, authorities said.
The two 17-year-old boys and one 16-year-old boy, whose names are not being released due to their ages, are due to appear for arraignment Nov. 19 in Pomona Juvenile Court, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office spokeswoman Jane Robison said. They have been released to the custody of their parents pending their court proceedings.
“The D.A. charging these kids validates the fact that my clients were sexually assaulted,” said attorney Brian Claypool, who is representing the alleged victims in a civil claim against the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District. “They didn’t make this up.”
A fourth teen, now-18-years-old, was initially cited along with the other three suspects, however prosecutors found declined to file a case against him, citing insufficient evidence to support charges, Robison said.
The allegations stem from reported incidents of sexual hazing against four fellow students between April and August, officials said. In the incidents, older La Puente High School soccer players are accused of sodomizing and trying to sodomize younger players with a javeline.
The two 17-year-old suspects were charged with 10 counts each, including sexual penetration with a foreign object, assault with a deadlyt weapon, four counts of sexual battery and four counts of hazing, according to the district attorney’s office.
They are suspected of attacking three of the four victims, Lt. Carlos Marquez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau said.
The 16-year-old suspect was charged with six counts including sexual penetration with a foreign object, assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of sexual battery and two counts of hazing, Robison said.
He was believed to be involved in attacking one of the victims, Marquez added.
But even with criminal charges filed against three suspects in the alleged sexual assault, “This is just the beginning of the process,” Claypool said. “It’s just the beginning of learning the whole story.
Claypool said that he believed the coach responsible for the players had knowledge of the abuse, if not involvement.
Two of the unidenfified victims reported being lured into a room by the coach prior to the assaults, while another reported the coach winked at one of the assailants immediately after an attack, Claypool said.
“I still believe this teacher/coach was involved in encouraging these kids to do it, directing them to do it and encouraging them to do it as part of a ritual,” the attorney said.
The attorney further alleged that district administrators turned a blind eye to the issue.
Despite Claypool’s assertions, however, “We don’t have any evidence to support any allegations against the teacher,” Marquez said.
District Superintendant Barbara Nakaoka declined to comment on the charges.
“We have no comment on the investigation,” she said. “We’re just conceentrating on making sure our students have a very safe environment, and making sure we focus our attention on their education.”
Claypool said he was optimistic that more information would emerge regarding the roles played by district officials and administrators as evidence in the cases against the teenage suspects continues surface in the coming weeks and months.
“Maybe this will give the impetus to the sheriff’s (department) and the D.A. to take a closer look,” he said.
Claypool said his investigation has revealed that incidents of sexual hazing such as the ones that recently became public may have been going on for years at La Puente High School — an allegation detectives said they are looking into.
At least two of the suspects charged in the case were victimized in a similar manner themselves in previous years, Claypool said.
“That’s the tragedy in all of this,” he said. “These boys were victimized, too.”
The case was expected to remain in juvenile court, Robison said. “We are not seeking to try them as adults.”
The juvenile judicial process differs from adult criminal proceedings in several ways, Robison explained. Juvenile trials are held before a judge, not a jury, and are not open to the public.
Judges in juvenile cases generally have more discretion when it comes to sentencing young offenders if found guilty, ranging from probation to incarceration in juvenile hall.
Meanwhile, Claypool said the school district last week rejected a civil claim he filed on behalf of the alleged victims. He planned to file a lawsuit next week.
