By:Scott Brinton
Fear and violence filled their days and nights. That was how the mothers of three Mepham High School junior-varsity football players described the week their sons spent last August at a Pennsylvania training camp at which they were repeatedly sexually abused and beaten by three older teammates.
The mothers spoke out together for first time at the Feb. 4 Central High School District meeting. It was a subdued, somber session at which it was revealed that as many as seven Mepham players had come forward last September to tell Central District officials what they saw at the camp.
About 30 members of Bellmore-Merrick Parents for Change stood with the mothers as they spoke. Bellmore-Merrick Parents formed recently to hold school officials accountable for the sex-abuse attacks. The grass-roots group includes at least two victims' families.
In the interest of protecting the victims, who were ninth-grade members of the JV football squad, the Herald is not identifying their mothers. One mother, who has guarded her privacy throughout the ordeal, said that most Mepham students and faculty members still don't know her son was attacked. The other two victims are more widely known at the school. Their mothers have already appeared on national television to talk about the incidents.
During last week's meeting, the mothers offered an impassioned speech to the Board of Education that brought new details about the attacks to light. The three described a pattern of repeated violence that included not only the sex attacks but also other forms of physical and verbal abuse.
At the camp, the team practiced three times a day. "In between the practices," the mothers said, "there was free time for the boys. This is when the assaults on our boys would begin. As soon as practice was completed and the boys returned to their bunks, the beatings would begin.
"They were beaten with bags of ice, mattresses, crutches and fists," the mothers said. "When the beatings stopped, they were sodomized."
It was already widely known that the three confessed assailants, Phil Sofia, Ken Carney and Thomas Diasparra, sodomized the three JV players with a broomstick, pine cones and golf balls.
The mothers said, "With one of the attackers carrying a knife, our boys were constantly threatened that they would die if they talked ... If they got to swim in the lake, the same boys were holding them underwater. In the cafeteria, there were arguments between the perpetrators and the other [team] members about how far this was going."
The mothers continued, "Our sons had stopped participating in many of the practices. Their minds and bodies were drained. When it was bedtime, the torture would start again."
One night, the mothers said, a coach entered the cabin and asked about duct tape at the end of one victim's bed. The boy lay under his sleeping bag, "taped from head to toe," the mothers said. They added that "the coach never inquired further," and the incident was never discovered.
The mothers said that one of the perpetrators had multiple suspensions from school. "This same boy threatened some boys at a pre-camp practice," the three said. "Then you send this criminal to my son's cabin and never check on them."
The mothers said, "We, the [victims'] families, do not think the coaches are terrible or evil men. We certainly admire anyone who commits and dedicates themselves to children, whether academically or athletically. However, last summer in Pennsylvania, at a school-sanctioned trip, five coaches employed by the district, in our view, failed to provide a safe environment for our children."
The mothers also applauded the school district's decision not to rehire Kevin McElroy and Art Canestro as coaches for the spring sports season. McElroy served as the head football coach and Canestro as the JV coach. Canestro was supposed to coach baseball and McElroy was set to coach golf in the spring.
During interviews with the Herald in recent weeks, McElroy and Canestro both swore they knew nothing about the sexual attacks while at the camp. And they believe they took necessary precautions to protect the players.
Ken Kornobis and John Van Name, both of North Merrick, founded Concerned Citizens for Excellence in Education recently to seek the football coaches' reinstatement. Kornobis and Van Name believe the five coaches were unjustly blamed for the attacks.
Kornobis, who spoke during last week's board meeting, said, "The vendetta against the Mepham coaches continues. We are still blaming our coaches exclusively."
He wondered whether Central District officials were trying to make McElroy's and Canestro's jobs "so miserable" that they would resign from their teaching posts at Mepham. McElroy teaches social studies and Canestro teaches phys. ed. The other three coaches at the camp -- Erwin Wolosky, Steve Vernet and Brian Scott -- were hired only for the football season.
The school board, Kornobis said, should be "thorough in its investigation and fair and impartial in its decisions." Kornobis and Van Name both say McElroy and Canestro should not have lost their spring coaching positions.
The victims' mothers, however, said, "For those of you who do not support this decision, we feel you have not been privileged to all of the facts that the [Board of Education], its attorneys and the [victims'] families have known all along."
One man at the meeting, who declined to be identified, said he believed McElroy and Canestro should have been suspended from their teaching and coaching positions, with pay, until the school district completed an investigation into the case.
And what about the 4th suspect?
By Scott Brinton
Members of Bellmore-Merrick Parents for Change barraged the Central High School District officials with questions during last Wednesday's Board of Education meeting.
Several group members asked about the Central District's investigation into the sex abuse at the Mepham High School football camp last August. They wondered why the district had not suspended a fourth potential suspect in the case. Pennsylvania authorities are reported to have arrested a fourth alleged assailant in recent weeks. Pennsylvania officials, however, aren't commenting on the arrest, or even saying officially that it took place.
Mary Ramo, a Bellmore-Merrick Parents member, asked why the district doesn't have enough information to suspend the suspect, when Pennsylvania authorities apparently had enough evidence to arrest him.
Dr. Thomas Caramore, the Central High School District superintendent, said the district is conducting an investigation that "will probably continue throughout the school year." In fact, he said, there are "a number of investigations going on," but "I can't go into all the details."
Caramore also said there are "administrative" and "employment" proceedings that are pending, but he did not expand on the statement.
Central District officials said that Pennsylvania authorities have not spoken with them about the reported fourth arrest. Pennsylvania officials cannot share information about the case with the Central District because the suspect is a minor, and his file is supposed to remain sealed.
The lack of information from Pennsylvania, Caramore said, "is very frustrating."
The superintendent insisted that the Central District has "no independent knowledge about any other act committed by any other" football player. If there is a witness who saw a fourth assailant, Caramore said, he implores the student or his parents to come forward and speak with school officials.
Caramore also said district officials have questioned football players about the attacks "repeatedly" and on "numerous occasions." Bellmore-Merrick Parents wondered whether all players were interviewed. Caramore said no. Rather, he said, "specific students" were called in.
John Rossi, a Bellmore-Merrick Parents member, asked whether the district had enough insurance to cover the possible monetary settlements that the sex-abuse victims might receive during upcoming civil litigation.
Caramore said, "We have a significant amount of insurance." He could not say how much insurance the district carries through the New York State Insurance Reciprocal.
Charles Reinhardt, the board president, said it was "unlikely" that the potential settlements would surpass the district's insurance policies. He noted that the district has both general liability and umbrella coverage.
Joan Phillips, another Bellmore-Merrick Parents member, wondered whether the coaches received a stipend for their work at the camp. The coaches did not, said Caramore. They were to be paid one salary for the football season, he said.
