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Parents angered by alleged locker room sex assault demand answers from officials

May 10, 2019 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Parents attend a school board meeting Thursday in Gaithersburg, Md., demanding answers about security. (Jason Andrew for The Washington Post)

Frustrated parents demanded answers Thursday night from elected leaders in suburban Maryland about school security and why it took so long to report an alleged locker room sexual assault by members of a high school football team.

The emotional gathering represented a major public reckoning between top school system officials in Montgomery County and parents after authorities said four junior-varsity football players from Damascus High School were sexually assaulted with a broomstick by teammates on Oct. 31.

“Why did it take 13 hours for the parents to be informed of a broomstick rape?” asked a relative of one of the victims.

School officials sought to offer assurances that they are continuing to investigate how the incident was handled and reported to police, along with issues of locker room supervision. The review is expected to be complete by the end of the school year.

But parents were vocal and appeared unsatisfied with many replies, as a crowd of more than 100 faced Montgomery County’s eight-member school board and other members of the school system administration.

“I didn’t hear any changes, any new protocols,” said Ken Green, a Damascus parent, adding that he was listening for an explanation of how the school system would be sure that a similar incident would not happen again.

Damascus has reeled for more than six months since the incident. Six players were charged with rape or attempted rape, or both, in November. The victims and suspects were 14 or 15 years old at the time of the alleged attacks.

School board President Shebra L. Evans had opened the session Thursday, her voice breaking as she described reactions she and other board members had to the alleged assaults.

“We want you all to know that we are deeply saddened,” she said. “We are mortified by the alleged actions.”

Evans said the board had heard from many parents and recognized the community was deeply angry and at a breaking point.

“We want you to know that we are with you,” she said. “We hear you, and we are troubled by this.”

The school board’s visit to the Damascus area did not come in response to the incident — the visit had been long-planned as one of the school board’s sessions in the community — but the discussion took on greater urgency in the aftermath of the assault case.

On Tuesday, the principal of Damascus High, Casey Crouse, announced she would step down, saying the school needed new leadership to move forward. She said she was leaving immediately and taking another position in the school system.

On Thursday, school officials said Crouse’s new job would be as an administrator on special assignment in human resources. Her salary remains roughly $160,000 a year, said Derek Turner, schools spokesman.

Crouse’s resignation as principal was part of a broader staffing shake-up. The school’s athletic director, Joseph Doody, was placed on administrative leave Tuesday, and in mid-April, the junior-varsity football coach, Vincent Colbert, was placed on leave.

Principal at Md. school rocked by sex assault case announces she is stepping down

The Washington Post reported in March that Damascus school officials waited more than 12 hours to tell police about credible allegations that at least one player had been sexually assaulted with a broomstick.

During that time, Crouse initiated an in-house investigation at the school that led to victims and suspects being pulled from their classes to give statements to school administrators before trained police detectives were brought in.

A football locker room, a broomstick and a sex assault case roil a school

The attacks came to light the evening of Oct. 31, when one of the victims told his father what happened to him. The father then called Colbert, the JV coach, according to statements the father and Colbert gave to police.

Colbert quickly spoke with Eric Wallich, the varsity head coach, and Wallich passed information to Doody, the athletic director, and to Crouse, according to a group text message seen by The Post.

None of the four called the police that night, according to statements given to detectives and court hearings.

After charges were filed against the six football players, one case was quickly dropped, one stayed in juvenile court and four were moved to adult court before being returned to juvenile court.

As school officials conduct their investigation into supervision and reporting issues, county prosecutors are examining whether there were similar “brooming” attacks in the past at Damascus.

Crouse, Doody and Wallich have previously declined interview requests about the case. Turner, the schools spokesman, said this week that they had no comment.

Victor Del Pino, an attorney for Colbert, said he was disappointed in the decision to put his client on leave, adding, “Mr. Colbert hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Dan Morse contributed to this report.