In a case of what is beginning to look like putting the welfare of a high school football team ahead of the welfare of a minor child, a public school in Bixby, Oklahoma is facing allegations of a failure to report a sexual assault of a team member and a potential cover-up of the incident by responsible school officials.
According to an Affidavit filed November 27, 2017 with the State of Oklahoma, Tulsa County:
- The Oklahoma State Attorney has designated a special prosecutor to investigate the incident. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has also been called into the probe.
- In addition to an investigation of the sexual assault, the investigation will determine whether mandatory reporting of the incident occurred as well as whether there were attempts to thwart an investigation.
- Electronic evidence has been seized from:
Superintendent of Schools
Principal
Head Football Coach
Athletic Director
All football players implicated in the incident
4. The male victim, age 16, was interviewed by the special investigator on Nov 13, 2017. The victim was at a team function in a private home belonging to the Superintendent of Bixby Public Schools. The Superintendent’s son is also a player on the team.
5. The victim was held down by three teammates as a fourth teammate inserted a pool stick into his anus through his shorts. A fifth team member filmed the event. A sixth team member held the door to the room closed. All other football team members stood by laughing. The victim left after the incident. His mother later reported it did result in rectal bleeding.
6. The victim said he was aware the video was shown to others. He was told the video had been deleted. In addition, the victim reported to the investigator a similar incident in 2016 had occurred at the same location.
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The victim’s mother was interviewed on Nov 15, 2017. She reported that she was contacted by the school’s Athletic Director on Oct. 26.
She was only told that her son had been the subject of a hazing or bullying incident. He asked if she wanted police contacted and she declined, not knowing it was a sexual assault.
On Oct 31, during a meeting with the superintendent, the mother and her husband still were not told the nature of the assault. She went home to discuss with her son when he told her it was actually a sexual assault and had happened before.
The investigator does not know the exact date when school officials became aware of assault, but knew that it was at least October 26. The incident was not officially reported to the Bixby police until November 1 or 2. The Department of Human Services was not notified until November 10.
By Nov 9, the OSBI was brought in as it appeared school officials were not cooperating.
A second Affidavit reveals that all the football players have cooperated and admitted to their involvement in the assault. It also revealed that a parent tried to purchase the telephone used in the filming of the incident. Further, it seems to show increasing evidence of an attempt to cover-up the incident involving school officials and perhaps the entire board of directors, and certainly seems to indicate a failure to report the incident in a timely fashion. According to the investigator, “It certainly appears that any reporting of the incident was significant and has caused difficulty in the investigation, especially including the inability to preserve evidence. It also appears that there may have been some initial effort by one or others to not report the incident at all.”
A grand jury has been convened and the case is currently in recess as investigators continue to gather evidence.
Affidavits:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/bixby-affidavits/pdf_b92f74c7-0d70-5eae-9e4f-a02a37b0a8cc.html