Author: Hank Nuwer

Father of hazing victim cries for justice as 8 suspects now missing

By JOEL E. CAPUNDAN

ROXAS CITY – The father of John Angelo Dollete, who died of hazing, is now crying for justice after the eight suspects whose arrest warrants were earlier issued are now at large and believed to have gone hiding.

Philippine Coast Guard OIC Commander Jesus Dollete appealed to the public to give information on the whereabouts of the suspects who are wanted as of press time.

Dollete said that he already learned since December that the suspects have already gone in hiding upon learning that their warrants of arrest were about to come out.

Earlier, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Mambusao issued a warrant of arrest dated January 15, 2009 against the eight suspects who were involved in violating Republic Act 8049 or Anti-Hazing Act in Relation to Art 249 of Revised Penal Code or Homicide.

RTC Judge Daniel Antonio Gerardo Amular issued the warrant of arrest against the officers and members of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) Fraternity and Sorority involved in the initiation rites that resulted to the death of John Angelo Dollete last May 6, 2006 in Sapian, Capiz.

Subjects for arrest warrant are: Demo Machado of RCL Marketing, Kalibo Branch, Kalibo, Aklan; Sangguniang Bayan Member Christian Sander Mendoza of Ivisan, Capiz; Archie Durana of Salgan, Maayon, Capiz; Rhel Reff Patricio of President Roxas, Capiz; Dinkee Mandar of Punta Tabuc, Roxas City; Dexter Alvarez and Ramer Bula of Brgy. Loctugan, Roxas City; and Engr. Roque Isiderio of Consolacion, Mambusao, Capiz.

No bailbond was recommended for the accused. The said suspects are still at large as of press time.

To recall, Dollete, a fifth year engineering student at Capiz State University (CapSU) was declared dead on arrival by attending physicians at the Mambusao District Hospital when he was brought by members of the APO at dawn on May 6, 2006.

The initiation rite was held in Sapian in the evening of May 5 wherein members and officers of APO attended.

Dollete, died on the spot, when he was mauled and paddled by members of the said fraternity.

Two Florida A&M fraternity members pleaded no contest this morning in Leon Circuit Court to felony charges of hazing another student more than two years ago.
Advertisement

A no contest plea means Michael Morton and Jason Harris, members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, did not contest nor deny the charges against them.

In exchange for the plea, the men were sentenced to time served.

They were given credit for the 614 days they spent in jail, according to court records.

In early August, attorneys for Harris and Morton asked the 1st District Court of Appeal to throw out the convictions, saying there is no definition of what “serious bodily injury” means under the hazing law. They also questioned instructions Circuit Judge Kathleen Dekker gave to the jury.

Return to Tallahassee.com for more details.

Story Link

Hazing victim’s family files suit
January 17, 2009 6:00 AM

FAIRHAVEN — The family of the Fairhaven High School student victimized in the Camp Wishbone hazing incident filed suit Friday in federal court, seeking compensation for the serious physical and emotional injuries caused by the town’s and other individuals’ alleged actions.

“As a direct and proximate result of the defendants’ negligence, the plaintiffs suffered physical injuries, indignities, humiliation, severe emotional distress, mental anguish and invasion of bodily integrity,” stated the complaint, filed on behalf of the Marujo family by their attorneys.

The civil suit stems from a hazing incident during July 2006 in which Matthew Marujo was physically and sexually abused by fellow football teammates who videotaped the abuse.

According to the complaint, the defendants’ actions — and their failures to act — allowed the hazing to happen, thus causing Matthew and his family to suffer emotionally and physically.

Named as defendants in the suit were:

* Robert Baldwin, superintendent of the Fairhaven School District.
* Dana Almeida, the director of Camp Wishbone at the time of the hazing and a former Fairhaven football coach.
* Chris Foster, the head coach of the high school’s football team at the time of the incident. Mr. Foster resigned from that position shortly after the Camp Wishbone incident but returned to coaching this year as Fairhaven’s indoor track coach.
* Scott Francis, the school’s athletic director.
* Jean Cote, the former principal who took a medical leave from his position at the start of the 2007-08 school year and later left the district.
* The Fairhaven School Committee.
* The town of Fairhaven.
* Camp Wishbone, a summer football camp atten

Mepham student denies abuse charge

BY MATTHEW CHAYES AND JOHN VALENTI | matthew.chayes@newsday.com; john.valenti@newsday.com
January 17, 2009

A junior at Mepham High School pleaded not guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge that he inappropriately touched a younger student in a locker room as their team was showering, Nassau County police said.

Antoine Saunders, 18, of Bellmore, was arrested Thursday, Nassau police said. The incident occurred Monday at about 5:45 p.m., police said.

Police say the older student touched the boy, 14, after pushing him into a locker “for the purpose of degrading him” during an after-school activity. Authorities have not released the accuser’s identity.

After pleading not guilty Friday at First District Court in Hempstead to a misdemeanor forcible touching charge, Saunders was ordered released without bail on the condition that he have no contact with the accuser. He is due back in court Feb. 19. Citing privacy, authorities would not say what team the boys play for.

Mepham student charged with forcible touching
Incident happened in boys’ locker room during after-school activity, police say

BY MATTHEW CHAYES | matthew.chayes@newsday.com
3:05 PM EST, January 16, 2009

A junior at Mepham High School pleaded not guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge that he touched an intimate body part of a younger student as the boys’ team showered and changed clothes in the locker room, Nassau County police said Friday.

Police say the older student touched the 14-year-old victim after pushing him into a locker “for the purpose of degrading him” during an after-school activity, police said.

The arrest comes a little more than five years after the Bellmore school was vaulted into the national spotlight for a hazing incident in which varsity football players sexually abused team underclassmen with broomsticks and pine cones.

In the latest incident, police said there was no evidence of organized hazing and that no objects were used against the victim.

“No instruments, just a hand,” said Det. Lt. John Allen, commanding officer of the police special services squad.

Antoine Saunders, 18, of Little Neck Avenue, Bellmore, was arrested Thursday, Nassau police said. The incident occurred Monday at about 5:45 p.m., police said.

After pleading not guilty at First District Court in Hempstead to a forcible touching charge, Saunders was ordered released without bail on the condition that he have no contact with the accuser. He is due back in court Feb. 19.

“You would not be allowed to be back on that team,” Judge Bonnie P. Chaikin told the suspect.

Saunders, who left court with a worker from the group home where he lives, said nothing to reporters and made an obscene gesture to photographers.

His attorney, Matthew Fleischer of Mineola, told Chaikin that Saunders lives in a group home called Hope for Youth “for family reasons.”

Neither police nor school officials specified what team the accused and the victim play for.

A varsity team football roster located on mephamfootball.com lists a player named Antoine Saunders as a defensive end. The site is not affiliated with the school or the Bellmore-Merrick school district.

Superintendent Henry Kiernan said the district “is working closely with local authorities and their investigation.”

“The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District has a zero-tolerance policy in regards to inappropriate behavior of any kind and expects all students to adhere to our code of conduct,” Kiernan said in a statement.

Kiernan said district administrators were advised Tuesday of “an incident that occurred on the premises of the school district.”

“Upon being notified the district immediately contacted the local law enforcement agency,” he said.

“The district took appropriate disciplinary action,” Kiernan said. The statement did not specify that action.

The victim has not been identified because he is a victim of a sex crime.

Mepham was cast into the national spotlight in 2003 after three varsity football players were arrested and charged in a brutal hazing incident that occurred during training camp in Preston Park, Pa.

During that five-day training camp, prosecutors and police said that four players used broomsticks, pine cones and golf balls to penetrate at least three freshman football players.

Eventually, the four players were arrested in the attacks. Two of those players served time in juvenile facilities in Pennsylvania and two were sentenced to probation. None returned to a Bellmore-Merrick school. Also, the two head coaches who chaperoned the trip were fired from their football jobs and were suspended from their teaching positions.

Staff writer John Valenti contributed to this story.