From the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune: A disorderly conduct charge fits the allegations against four members of the Lincoln High School wrestling team, said a professor of law who reviewed the criminal complaint Friday.
The Wood County District Attorney's Office filed a disorderly conduct charge against Zachary S. Benitz, 18, Wisconsin Rapids; Kasey D. Einerson, 17, Wisconsin Rapids; Rylan L. Lubeck, 17, Vesper; and Devin L. Peterson, 17, Wisconsin Rapids. All are charged as adults and are scheduled to make initial court appearances June 20. A disorderly conduct charge carries a maximum $1,000 fine and a 90-day jail sentence. The high school juniors remain innocent unless proven guilty.
According to the criminal complaint, on multiple occasions during the wrestling season, the four teenagers danced naked around a 15-year-old in the team locker room, touched their genitals to his leg and held their genitals close to his face. In one instance, the 15-year-old entered a locker to avoid contact. Another student told authorities he witnessed the four physically and emotionally abusing the 15-year-old, according to the complaint.
Wood County Assistant District Attorney Craig Lambert, the prosecutor, declined to answer questions about how authorities decided to charge the students with disorderly conduct.
Wisconsin Rapids Police Chief Kurt Heuer also declined to address questions about the case Friday, citing the growing reaction in the community.
"We seem to have lost sight of our victim and the victim's family," Heuer said.
http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/article/20110528/WRT0101/105280550/Authorities-silent-charges-against-Lincoln-High-School-wrestlers?odyssey=modmostcom
Some things to know: Zachery Benitz is the son of the coach and grandson of a long time Rapids wrestling coach.
The Wisconsin Rapids wrestling team is one of the most successful wrestling program in Wisconsin. In fact, the team just the state team wrestling championship a couple weeks ago. The team has won numerous team and individual titles over the years, more than any other team in the state.
The Benitz family has been involved in Wisconsin Rapids wrestling for several decades in Wisconsin Rapids.
Clearly, there was a lack of oversight in the locker room by the coaches and the wrestling captains and seniors. The coaches were either not in the locker room or they were in the office chatting. Hopefully, they did not see what was going on and they ignored what was going on, otherwise they could have and should have been charged with child abuse/neglect.
The captains and the seniors on the team knew what was going on and they chose not to do anything about it. They need to be held responsible.
There always has been horsing around in sport's locker rooms throughout history. But I don't think most locker rooms get to this point where the bullies slap their junk on another unwilling kid. These guys crossed the line between horse play and good old fun and sexual assault in which the kids could have been charged with.
So, what should happen to the bullies? If they are suppose to graduate, they should not be allowed to walk in the graduation ceremonies.
If they return to school, they cannot be on the wrestling team next year. As far as the coaches are concerned, the head coach and his assistants should be suspended for a year as well and then they could be permitted to return.
But the bottom line is this. The kid who was bullied will be living in hell until he graduates. Kids will be taunting him, called names, threatened and possibly be physically attacked. His life will never be the same until he leaves Wisconsin Rapids. Kudo's to the boy and his family for blowing the whistle on the bullies and calling the police. If they went to the school, it would have been swept under the rug and nothing would have happened. And kudos to the police for investigating the bullying instead of ignoring it like good old boys do.
So, we will see what will happen and good luck to the victim in the future.
Random Riddle: bit
1 hour ago
I had heard about this from a couple of wrestlers from different schools who came by my shop the other day. I 100% agree with your comments on the situation. In addition, I believe if they are convicted, their state medals (individual for sure, maybe even team) from this season should be taken away. There is precedent for that from a few years ago where a state champ lost his medal for a crime committed during the season that he was convicted for after the state tourney. These are NOT the type of people that should be representing the sport of wrestling or their school (assuming a conviction), in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI just talked to a friend of mine today, who graduated from there, and whose family still lives there...apparently, there is a strong feeling in Rapids that there should never have been charges filed. Really? 25-30 years ago, I can see where that opinion might have been accepted by the majority--the "old boy" network was still alive & kicking. But not in this day & age. Behavior like this CAN'T BE TOLERATED--and shame on the people who believe it should be.
As for the victim, I hope the community isn't too hard on him & his family...and if they need to move, I bet there are a lot of places that would welcome a forthright, stand-up family like that with open arms.
Being from Wisconsin Rapids myself, I totally agree with your article. I went to Lincoln High School back in the day. Theres two families of power in Wisconsin Rapids, one being the Benitz and the other the Beigles which carries the football torch. These two sports teams have dominated the livelyhood of all others in that city. They get away with everything. Since this posting, more charges were added to the wrestlers taking place in a motel room and on a bus. The original victim in this case was partially blind, deaf and mentally handicapped. The family has been publicly ridiculed, going as far as people saying they made this story up because they are jealous that there child will never be as "good" or "popular" as the wrestlers in question. But you have to step back and look at this high school as a whole to see the big picture. This past year, the principal sent a student out into the parking lot of the school to buy drugs from a kid in order to bust someone for selling drugs on school property. Since when does a principal have any legal right to set up a drug deal, on school property, endagering not only the child he gave the money too, but any other kids in the area if things go wrong? You can look up the story in the archives of the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Rag, I mean Tribune.
ReplyDeleteBut back to the wrestlers, the golden boys of central Wiconsin...they were given a slap on the wrist. Had these boys been from the local trailer park, or from the outer limits of the Rapids inner circle...this case wouldve been handle much differently. They wouldve been hung by their genitalia on the court house steps and the community wouldve embraced the victim and his family. Which is exactly what shouldve happened-regardless who did the crime.
I'm sure this is something that goes on all over the country, and the world. What can we do as people, as a community to stop it?