The story is sensitive and includes serious allegations. We ask that comments be sensitive to all involved, including the alleged victim and her account of the evening and the alleged suspects. We also ask that our readers not speculate about the alleged suspects' identities.
Based on the Seattle reporting, it seems like none of this was a big secret, so I hope somebody at Cal made a real effort to look at the information available to them in evaluating this. Just a horrible situation all around, and even if the circumstances fall short of criminal charges, there is no interpretation of anything that could have happened in that car that speaks highly with respect to the decision-making that occurred by those young men.
With that said, the idea that anybody’s identity here is being protected by the paper not using their names is a joke.
Cal does a pretty good job of vetting their prospects. They really want kids with strong character and good families behind them. While I never want to make light of a potential victim, these nefarious allegations were made some time ago and the police decided not to file any charges. We should be careful not to impugn the results of the investigation several years after the alleged incident and damage reputations of young men who were NOT charged.
Amen rug. Ill add people tend to treat teenagers decision making as adults far too often(let alone drunk 16 year olds). Im sure it was a messy situation with no clear black and white answer, so the police didnt risk making a very serious charge that wasnt fully supported, and did what they could. People are too quick to snap to full guilt or innocence on either side in this stuff, when its usually somewhere in the middle.
Hopefully the girl is doing okay at this point, and any (now older) boys involved have learned from the situation and grown mentally. Wilcox talks about character nonstop, i know him/his team wont be perfect at vetting but it seems like they would have known. And if nothing changes, which i hope it doesnt because of this, the young person in question will have some good role models at CAL to further learn from.
Im not sure what the point of that article was 2yrs later, other than to basically name people and mess with their lives/drag them in the mud...I guess there isnt enough going on in the world right now thats news worthy. Oh btw, its rugbear! I hope to see you post regularly on more cheerful articles again.
I always enjoy the internet nonsensical reactions...I referred to it as a "messy situation" as in it wasn't a "clear cut" case and involved intoxicated teenagers (as in your information is going to not be very clear). If it was a clear cut group sexual assault, they'd have been charged (and/or convicted) 2 years ago, as they should be if true. Where did I say it wouldn't have a life long impact? I cant wish someone is doing better mentally 2 years after an alleged assault (as in they've gotten counseling-something people often dont do)? And please where did I say anything having to do with "intoxicated being an excuse to assault her"? Dont put BS words where there weren't any, especially when its a topic like this. Have a civil conversation or don't respond please.
Fully agree Lawrence. I dated a gal in the past who had been violently raped when she was 18 and threatened with death if she ever told anyone. It robbed her soul and she never was able to get her life together. My younger sister was gang raped with a girlfriend on a beach in France where they were camping. It has left an indelible lifelong impact on her. I actually think convicted rapists should be executed. Probably a pretty harsh thought for many people, but rapists rob a woman of everything she has and then some. The survivor may be alive but in my experience a part of them dies. However, and sadly, once and a while a Tawana Brawley comes along who harms the credibility of every real victim, and sows seeds of doubt regarding every alleged abuser. For this reason it is completely irresponsible to condemn young men for one of the most heinous crimes imaginable without a thorough investigation, and a fair trial. Absent a conviction it is unfair to continue to publicly shame these men. If you want to continue an investigation, I am all for it, but don't do it in the press. That's not justice, its a trial by public opinion with the case defined by the press. It's a hit job. Finally, I find it doubtful that the police will find more evidence now than at the time of the alleged crime. I don't know what the Seattle newspaper is trying to do, but its not right.
Just a reminder to all in the conversation about the sensitive topic. Please read over your comments before publishing. we will be monitoring the comments for any violations of our community guidelines.
Obviously it should be looked into. I have mixed feelings, though. On the one hand, our culture as a program can’t make this thing acceptable. On the other hand, there may be good reasons why he wasn’t charged. I think universities often bungle the prospect of serving as their own criminal justice system, particularly in cases like this.
If no other shoe drops I guess I have to trust Wilcox to make the right call one way or the other.
Universities don't serve as their "own criminal justice system." The most a school can do is not admit a student. That's not criminal, and just as a school can reject someone for all sorts of things that aren't criminal (for example, plagiarizing is generally unethical and wrong but almost never criminal) it can reject a student on a lesser degree of proof for things like a lack of good judgment around sexual issues or their potential to violate Title IX.
None of this is a judgment as to what should happen in this particular case, but simply to note that if schools were limited to criminal justice standards a whole lot of issues that academic communities take as givens would not be a basis for suspension or expulsion from academic institutions.
I believe in second chances. If convicted of a heinous crime then that comes after prison. I’ve often thought that kids in situations like this (made a serious mistake in HS, whether of THIS magnitude or some lesser crime) come to college AS that second chance, and have to know they don’t get a third chance here. One small slip up on something detrimental to the team or to other students, that wouldn’t necessarily get another kid booted as a “first offense”, and they’re out of football and lose the scholly. As I said above, in Wilcox I trust......
What am I missing here? Peeps keep saying this should be looked into and investigated. According to the article that has already happened. The "authorities" have already "handled" it. It has already been "looked into". There is no ongoing case and there will be no prosecution.
In terms of respective Universities honoring their offer to their recruits it would appear that that will be done individually by each University. I have no idea why Furd pulled their scholly for Hector, does anyone here know the reason?
Cal will presumably analyze or has analyzed their offer to their recruit from Eastside. Perhaps that process has been completed or is in progress. That said, I would think Cal would have known about this incident some time ago.
A very sad situation first and foremost for the young girl. I hope she has received all the assistance that is required from this traumatic experience.
My guess is because furd has had some recent negative press over the years in sexual assault related matters, they are trying to distance themselves from having any association with it-whether it be direct or not.
Yeah, I don’t think there is anything here that hasn’t been analyzed or reviewed by the authorities. Nor does it seem like anything was swept under the rug — in fact, it seems like pretty much everybody In the community has known about this incident since it happened two years ago. Maybe I’m just naive, but I can’t imagine the King County prosecutor’s office — which has prosecuted local professional and collegiate athletes in the past — cares whether these guys are high school football players or not.
Outside of the situation, what a slime ball the reporter is.
Says they’ll protect the identities of the people involved bc they were minors. Literally three paragraphs later “one of the players is committed to the university of Washington and another to California”
Sad news, I hope they got the girl some help. Who bought the alcohol for the underaged girl or boys? They should be charged. It does sound like it was swept under the rug being football players with moving up to the college ranks. Stanford holds their recruits to a higher standard that other school.
The story is sensitive and includes serious allegations. We ask that comments be sensitive to all involved, including the alleged victim and her account of the evening and the alleged suspects. We also ask that our readers not speculate about the alleged suspects' identities.
Based on the Seattle reporting, it seems like none of this was a big secret, so I hope somebody at Cal made a real effort to look at the information available to them in evaluating this. Just a horrible situation all around, and even if the circumstances fall short of criminal charges, there is no interpretation of anything that could have happened in that car that speaks highly with respect to the decision-making that occurred by those young men.
With that said, the idea that anybody’s identity here is being protected by the paper not using their names is a joke.
Cal does a pretty good job of vetting their prospects. They really want kids with strong character and good families behind them. While I never want to make light of a potential victim, these nefarious allegations were made some time ago and the police decided not to file any charges. We should be careful not to impugn the results of the investigation several years after the alleged incident and damage reputations of young men who were NOT charged.
Amen rug. Ill add people tend to treat teenagers decision making as adults far too often(let alone drunk 16 year olds). Im sure it was a messy situation with no clear black and white answer, so the police didnt risk making a very serious charge that wasnt fully supported, and did what they could. People are too quick to snap to full guilt or innocence on either side in this stuff, when its usually somewhere in the middle.
Hopefully the girl is doing okay at this point, and any (now older) boys involved have learned from the situation and grown mentally. Wilcox talks about character nonstop, i know him/his team wont be perfect at vetting but it seems like they would have known. And if nothing changes, which i hope it doesnt because of this, the young person in question will have some good role models at CAL to further learn from.
Im not sure what the point of that article was 2yrs later, other than to basically name people and mess with their lives/drag them in the mud...I guess there isnt enough going on in the world right now thats news worthy. Oh btw, its rugbear! I hope to see you post regularly on more cheerful articles again.
I always enjoy the internet nonsensical reactions...I referred to it as a "messy situation" as in it wasn't a "clear cut" case and involved intoxicated teenagers (as in your information is going to not be very clear). If it was a clear cut group sexual assault, they'd have been charged (and/or convicted) 2 years ago, as they should be if true. Where did I say it wouldn't have a life long impact? I cant wish someone is doing better mentally 2 years after an alleged assault (as in they've gotten counseling-something people often dont do)? And please where did I say anything having to do with "intoxicated being an excuse to assault her"? Dont put BS words where there weren't any, especially when its a topic like this. Have a civil conversation or don't respond please.
Fully agree Lawrence. I dated a gal in the past who had been violently raped when she was 18 and threatened with death if she ever told anyone. It robbed her soul and she never was able to get her life together. My younger sister was gang raped with a girlfriend on a beach in France where they were camping. It has left an indelible lifelong impact on her. I actually think convicted rapists should be executed. Probably a pretty harsh thought for many people, but rapists rob a woman of everything she has and then some. The survivor may be alive but in my experience a part of them dies. However, and sadly, once and a while a Tawana Brawley comes along who harms the credibility of every real victim, and sows seeds of doubt regarding every alleged abuser. For this reason it is completely irresponsible to condemn young men for one of the most heinous crimes imaginable without a thorough investigation, and a fair trial. Absent a conviction it is unfair to continue to publicly shame these men. If you want to continue an investigation, I am all for it, but don't do it in the press. That's not justice, its a trial by public opinion with the case defined by the press. It's a hit job. Finally, I find it doubtful that the police will find more evidence now than at the time of the alleged crime. I don't know what the Seattle newspaper is trying to do, but its not right.
I guess I was a little hasty in my comment a few days ago....
Yeah, I guess those of us in glass houses....
What else about this whole this is crazy is that everyone involved stayed on the team at Eastside
Just a reminder to all in the conversation about the sensitive topic. Please read over your comments before publishing. we will be monitoring the comments for any violations of our community guidelines.
Obviously it should be looked into. I have mixed feelings, though. On the one hand, our culture as a program can’t make this thing acceptable. On the other hand, there may be good reasons why he wasn’t charged. I think universities often bungle the prospect of serving as their own criminal justice system, particularly in cases like this.
If no other shoe drops I guess I have to trust Wilcox to make the right call one way or the other.
Universities don't serve as their "own criminal justice system." The most a school can do is not admit a student. That's not criminal, and just as a school can reject someone for all sorts of things that aren't criminal (for example, plagiarizing is generally unethical and wrong but almost never criminal) it can reject a student on a lesser degree of proof for things like a lack of good judgment around sexual issues or their potential to violate Title IX.
None of this is a judgment as to what should happen in this particular case, but simply to note that if schools were limited to criminal justice standards a whole lot of issues that academic communities take as givens would not be a basis for suspension or expulsion from academic institutions.
I believe in second chances. If convicted of a heinous crime then that comes after prison. I’ve often thought that kids in situations like this (made a serious mistake in HS, whether of THIS magnitude or some lesser crime) come to college AS that second chance, and have to know they don’t get a third chance here. One small slip up on something detrimental to the team or to other students, that wouldn’t necessarily get another kid booted as a “first offense”, and they’re out of football and lose the scholly. As I said above, in Wilcox I trust......
What am I missing here? Peeps keep saying this should be looked into and investigated. According to the article that has already happened. The "authorities" have already "handled" it. It has already been "looked into". There is no ongoing case and there will be no prosecution.
In terms of respective Universities honoring their offer to their recruits it would appear that that will be done individually by each University. I have no idea why Furd pulled their scholly for Hector, does anyone here know the reason?
Cal will presumably analyze or has analyzed their offer to their recruit from Eastside. Perhaps that process has been completed or is in progress. That said, I would think Cal would have known about this incident some time ago.
A very sad situation first and foremost for the young girl. I hope she has received all the assistance that is required from this traumatic experience.
My guess is because furd has had some recent negative press over the years in sexual assault related matters, they are trying to distance themselves from having any association with it-whether it be direct or not.
Yeah, I don’t think there is anything here that hasn’t been analyzed or reviewed by the authorities. Nor does it seem like anything was swept under the rug — in fact, it seems like pretty much everybody In the community has known about this incident since it happened two years ago. Maybe I’m just naive, but I can’t imagine the King County prosecutor’s office — which has prosecuted local professional and collegiate athletes in the past — cares whether these guys are high school football players or not.
Outside of the situation, what a slime ball the reporter is.
Says they’ll protect the identities of the people involved bc they were minors. Literally three paragraphs later “one of the players is committed to the university of Washington and another to California”
Seriously. How many kids at that HS are committed to play football at Cal. Ridiculous
Sad news all around and I hope the authorities handle it with the seriousness it deserves.
Sad news, I hope they got the girl some help. Who bought the alcohol for the underaged girl or boys? They should be charged. It does sound like it was swept under the rug being football players with moving up to the college ranks. Stanford holds their recruits to a higher standard that other school.
Ouch. All the way around, ouch..... So sorry to hear of it for all involved. In Wilcox I trust re: how to handle the recruit angle.......
My first thought when reading the story was that of Brenda Tracy.
https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/2014/11/canzano_her_name_is_brenda_tra.html
If you read the story, there's a passing Cal connection, although not with anything directly involving our football program...