By KEVIN KEARNEY
HONESDALE, Pa. The Mepham High School football sex-abuse case could be far from over. The investigation is continuing, and other players could be charged, Wayne County District Attorney Mark Zimmer said last Friday.
Investigators are looking at all sorts of suspects, Zimmer said, noting that there were 60 Mepham players who attended the August football camp at Camp Wayne for Girls in Preston Park, Pa., where three Mepham junior-varsity football players were sexually abused by older teammates with a broomstick, pine cones and golf balls.
Zimmer's comments came minutes after two accused players appeared at a hearing before President Judge Robert Conway, who ruled last week that they would be charged as juveniles.
The two varsity players agreed to plead guilty to felony charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. But Zimmer would not disclose what happened inside the courtroom, citing Conway's order that all proceedings and rulings are to remain confidential because of the players' ages.
The two players were escorted in handcuffs from the courthouse and into a police cruiser. From there they were taken to an undisclosed center, where they will be "evaluated."
Three varsity players, ages 16 and 17, were accused of sexually abusing JV players during the five-day preseason training camp.
Standing outside the courthouse on Friday, the aunt of one victim, who identified herself only as Sue, referred to the accused players as monsters. She said the players were to apologize to her nephew and the other alleged victims during the proceedings. But any apology would be bull, she said. They're only doing it because their lawyers told them to, she said, adding that she does not believe the players will be punished adequately.
Zimmer said the maximum penalty for juvenile offenders is placement in a detention center until age 21. The minimum for juveniles pleading or found guilty is probation.
Neither would be justice, said Sue, who believes the players should be sentenced to lengthy prison terms. She said that one of the players who assaulted her nephew weighs about 250 pounds. Her 14-year-old nephew, she said, is considerably smaller than that.
Sue, who has been the most-visible relative of a victim, seemed just as frustrated Friday as she was last week, when Conway ruled that the three players would be tried as juveniles. It's just another instance where our court system failed us, she said.
