• Hazing Deaths Database:
  • Blog
  • Storytelling
  • Bio
  • High School Sexual Hazing Incidents
  • Campus Speaker: Hazing & Binge Drinking
  • Hank Nuwer: selected media coverage
  • World Hazing Incidents
  • “Hazing,” “Sons of the Dawn,” “Legend of Jesse Owens”

Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site

Follow me on Social Media

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Parent Criticizes Ottawa County Prosecutor Lee Fisher; district learns from mistakes

September 13, 2007 By Hank Nuwer Leave a Comment

District tries to prevent more hazing
Thursday, September 13, 2007

As the courtroom saga ends from hazing incidents that stunned Coopersville, school district leaders are taking no chances on a repeat performance.

“I don’t think there is anyone here at (Coopersville Public Schools) that does not know what hazing is and that it’s not acceptable,” Superintendent Kevin O’Neill said.

With the recent start of fall sports, the district is making sure there is no inappropriate behavior in locker rooms and that students, particularly student athletes, know about hazing and its damaging effects.

Among the efforts this year are a written schedule of coaches to act as locker room supervisors and an anti-hazing talk by a Grand Valley State University educator.

The changes and programs come as the last of four teens implicated in several acts of hazing in April and May was sentenced Wednesday in Ottawa County Family Court on a charge of gross indecency.

Robert Miller, 17, was sentenced to a minimum six months of probation and 26 hours of community service. He must get counseling to address “bullying” behavior if ordered by a psychologist.

The other three teens, Scott Bush, 15; Zane Schaefer, 16; and Joshua Schoenborn, 15; received similar sentences on the same charge.

All were members of the Coopersville junior varsity baseball team when they were accused in what police reports described as “shark-bait” attacks on other players, including one member of the freshman baseball team.

The victims were held down while the assailants touched them inappropriately.

Parents of two of the victims named in court documents earlier called for tough sentences. On Wednesday, one voiced outrage at what he called a lenient sentence.

“As far as I’m concerned, the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office did us no justice at all,” he said. “If they were our attorneys, I would have fired them a long time ago.”

Ottawa County Prosecutor Lee Fisher earlier said the sentence of probation and community service was consistent with juvenile sentencing guidelines for teens who have no prior criminal record.

Filed Under: Hazing News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contact Inquiries

Hank Nuwer

Correspondence: Hank Nuwer at Hnuwer@hanknuwer.com   Phone number upon request.  Available presentations USA, … Email to book a date.

Sons of the Dawn

Sons of the Dawn: A Basque Odyssey: Hank's novel is for teens 11-18 but also meant to be enjoyed by … Read More

Hazing Deaths Database:

… Read More

Tallahassee police label December FSU fraternity death an accident, not hazing. Deaths involve FSU SAE and Sig Ep.

Here is the story link The death of a popular Florida State University student found unresponsive inside the Sigma Phi Epsilon house in December has been determined accidental, according to an autopsy released late Tuesday. The District Two Medical Examiner’s Office said the death of William Eppes Proctor, 22, was due to “right epidural hematoma due to […]

Pullman Police Chief Jenkins drops the ball in Big-Little death.

The police chief missed the deadline to post hazing charges. Shame on Pullman Police and the Prosecutor for letting the one-year statute of limitations expire in the “Big-Little” death of Sam Martinez, a travesty, at Washington State’s Alpha Tau Omega house. “We had our eyes on a potential more serious offense, that was manslaughter, and […]

Death of a rookie at Lyon College

The bruised body of James Gilfedder is undergoing an autopsy at this time while his teammates continue to play.   Gilfedder’s parents told Arkansas media that their son’s body was battered, and he consumed a fifth of alcohol at a team “hazing party.”  Police are waiting for autopsy results before commenting.  Media said the house […]

Another 2020 close call — TCU

Moderator: This is the same university that had injured pledges in September 2020: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article218683030.html Benton McDonald  -INCIDENT #2.  So similar to death of Nicky Cumberland at University of Texas–Moderator January 28, 2021 TCU placed a fraternity on probation after a hazing investigation revealed that students involved in a car crash last November had been sent […]

Archives


Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site is proudly powered by WordPress