The 15-year-old Santa Margarita Catholic High School student didn’t know what to expect when he heard loud cheers and clapping coming from the varsity football team’s locker room.
As he was walking to his locker, a player yelled, “Get him!” The lights were dimmed, several team members slammed him against a locker, pinned him to the ground and took turns “groping him, pulling on him, grabbing him, pulling on him,” according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court. It is said that he did some twisting and twisting. .
The lawsuit, first reported by the Orange County Register, details a disturbing assault on the sophomore football player that sparked a police investigation and left the boy suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression and depression. I suffered from an anxiety disorder. At least eight other student-athletes at the high school were also assaulted by teammates, according to the suit.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has opened an investigation into the incident, according to the complaint.
“This shouldn’t happen at any school. This shouldn’t happen in any locker room. This shouldn’t happen to any child,” said Greenberg, who represents the boy’s family. Brian Williams, partner at Gross, said: “The adults in charge of programs like this clearly need to do better. They need to do a better job of protecting student-athletes and preventing what appears to be systemic problems within the culture of their teams.” It is necessary to do so.”
The lawsuit names Santa Margarita Catholic High School and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Orange, and accuses them of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Lawyers are seeking unspecified damages.
Diocese of Orange spokesman Bradley Zinto said in an email that the diocese is “unable to comment at this time and has not yet received the complaint.”
The Santa Margarita Eagles football program is highly competitive in the world of high school sports, producing more than 20 players who have gone on to play in the NFL. Head coach Anthony Rousier has been placed on administrative leave, it was announced in early October. The school said the coach’s leave of absence was triggered by “incidents within the football program.” It is not clear whether his resignation is related to this incident.
Defense attorneys said the boy was an athletic teenager who enrolled at the high school this year and was excited about the possibility of playing on the highly regarded high school’s football team.
But after the Sept. 24 attack, the student no longer wanted to play sports, according to the complaint.
During the attack inside the locker room, the boy fought back at his teammates and suffered severe bruises, the lawsuit alleges. He yelled “No!” And “Stop!” The complaint says several players groped him while others watched.
After the incident, he felt pain and went to the team’s trainer for help. But another player stopped him, saying, “This is soccer, you knew what you were signing up for,” according to the complaint.
