By Hector Flores
Terry said that one of the alleged attackers has recently been seen hanging around Mepham, off school grounds, during the day. She believes the former football player, who is suspended from school and now faces criminal charges, may be trying to intimidate ninth-graders who may have witnessed the attacks.
"I am a little uncomfortable about this," Terry said. "It seems to me he is trying to show [the JV players] he is still capable of contact with them If he feels the need to do so. I don't want my son to have to feel afraid to attend school."
Kate Collins, the Bellmore-Merrick Central District spokeswoman, said she wasn't aware of complaints that any of the alleged attackers had been seen on school grounds, but she promised to look into the matter.
Detective Sgt. Tony Repalone, a police spokesman, said that he hadn't heard of any complaints, but if the alleged attacker doesn't enter school grounds, there isn't much that can be done.
"He is entitled to [park his car outside school]," Repalone said. "The only way police can do something is if he was on school grounds and the school pressed trespassing charges."
Terry's account comes after three local residents received threatening letters warning them that if they did not remain silent, they too would be sexually assaulted with a broomstick.
Residents, however, said they will not be easily silenced. Kristine Reichstein, of North Bellmore, said threatening letters shouldn't stop people from voicing their opinions on the Mepham sodomy case.
Reichstein, who has spoken out about the attacks, is the mother of a ninth-grade Mepham football player. "Anyone who has something to say, pro or con, should go on the record," said Reichstein, who did not receive a threatening letter. "Being afraid of someone who won't put their name or face on their statement is like being afraid of a monster in the closet."
Jim Rullo, of North Merrick, got a letter. The family of one of the victims asked him to read a statement at a recent meeting of the Bellmore-Merrick Central District Board of Education. In the statement, the family called for Mepham's coaches to resign for their failure to protect the victims, who were allegedly attacked during a football camp in Preston Park, Pa.
According to Rullo, the threatening letter said, "Keep your mouth shut and nothing will happen to you or your family." Rullo said the letter, which he turned over to police, was hand-written in black ink and bore a Queens postmark.
"You become uneasy because someone took the time to send this to you with the intent to intimidate," Rullo said. "Moments later, you become angry because you understand that this is what happened in the camp and that it has spread to the community. There comes a point when you say, 'No more,' and I believe that time has come."
Reichstein, whose child was reportedly threatened before the camp by one of the alleged assailants, though not attacked, again asserted that Bellmore-Merrick school officials should be held responsible for the alleged assaults. "The issue of accountability has been dismissed by the school board," she said. "Parents need to make sure that this issue is addressed. The school has put out a letter shifting the responsibility of this case from the administration and coaches to the children. Any reasonable person must understand the responsibility of baby-sitting. If a baby-sitter is taking care of a child who is sleeping in another room and that child falls out a window, that baby-sitter is still responsible."
Joseph Rosenthal, an attorney representing the Mepham coaches, said his clients were unaware of the alleged attacks, and he insisted that they took every precaution to prevent any form of hazing. Before the five-day football camp, coaches held a meeting with parents and players and explained the camp's rules, which included a ban on hazing. All players and their parents were then required to sign a Code of Conduct form.
Rosenthal added that school-district policy prohibits coaches from sleeping in the same quarters with players. As a result, there were regular bed checks only until 11:30 p.m.
One victim's attorney, Robert Kelly, said the attacks happened on more than one day and were not necessarily committed at night.
Reportedly, five Mepham coaches are cooperating with Wayne County (Pa.) District Attorney Mark Zimmer and Pennsylvania state police, who are investigating the case. Troopers have questioned the coaches, who are being treated as witnesses.
One of the alleged attackers has reportedly met with Wayne County authorities. Last week, he left the county's probation department with his parents. Details of his surrender were not available at press time.
The alleged attackers have not yet been identified, because they have been charged as minors, and under Pennsylvania law, minors' identities are always protected. That may change, however. District Attorney Zimmer has made a plea before a Pennsylvania judge to transfer the case from juvenile to adult court because of the severity of the alleged crime.
The three alleged attackers face a battery of charges, including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, terroristic threats, criminal coercion, simple assault, reckless endangerment, ethnic intimidation and multiple counts of criminal conspiracy.
