What About The Size Of The Bus?

An observant reader points out that the size of the bus the Carmel basketball team used when a freshman member of the team was allegedly sexually assaulted by several members of the senior team was not the traditional size of school buses. The reader informs me the smaller bus the freshman team used when traveling to and from Terre Haute is similar in size to the buses shown at the left. We're told three coaches were on the bus at the time the sexual assault is alleged to have occurred but were not aware of what was taking place. Nobody has explained why the seniors were riding on the freshman bus that night. We're also told by Hamilton Co. Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp that the video tape recorded that night by the on-board video camera was too dark and grainy to show what had transpired and had been sealed with other grand jury documents. It just doesn't add up. What happened to the second victim on the bus? His parents feared retribution because of the mother's employment relationship with the school and decided not to press a criminal case according to a Fox 59 News' update tonight. Things are really stinking in the criminal justice system up there in Hamilton County. And people were worried about David Wyser making it into the prosecutor's office. Supposedly Laskowski had his sights set on playing basketball for IU and Hoge and Kitzinger planned to play at Depauw. Hopefully, those plans are nixed for good by the respective colleges. Maybe Leerkamp will get that judgeship she's always wanted, or maybe not.

UPDATE: Sen. Mike Delph becomes the first elected official in Hamilton Co. to speak out about the charges brought in this case. On his Facebook site last night, Delph wrote, "As a lifetime Carmel resident and a graduate of Carmel High School, I am very troubled by the misdemeanor charges filed against the accused." "This should not be swept under a rug." Delph continued, "Felony charges should be filed and a jury should render judgment after both sides present their evidence." "No one is above the law!," he said.

UPDATE II: Leerkamp denies the team used the smaller bus on the trip. Others say the smaller bus is used by the team. If she would have simply disclosed the video tape she doesn't want the public to see, it could help clear up the matter. Let the public decide whether it is "too dark and grainy." The smaller buses hold up to 30 children and 20 adults. Leerkamp's reaction to the victim's parents was that she wanted them to come and talk to her if they had new information in the case. Hasn't she already talked to the victim and his parents after all this time?

UPDATE III: Newly-released documents from the school indicate that 51 students were on the bus on the night of the alleged attack, which means it had to be the larger-sized bus. I've also heard from one Carmelite about a possible reason the four seniors were riding on the freshman bus. According to this person's account, the four players had been acting up and the team's head coach became upset with them. When the buses stopped at a rest area on the return drive from Terre Haute, the coach is said to have told the four that if they wanted a ride home, they would have to ride on the freshman bus.

It Was A Sexual Assault Parents Claim

 

The parents of one of the victims is saying several former Carmel High School basketball players sexually assaulted their son not on once, twice but on several occasions. Their son complained to a coach, but the parents said he did nothing about it. The parents say they are now speaking out because testimony leaking out of the grand jury proceedings conducted by Hamilton Co. Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp indicated that their son wanted what he got. Leerkamp has only brought battery and criminal recklessness charges against the basketball players in the case based on the grand jury's conclusions. When questioned by reporters about the type of claims made by this victim's attorney, Leerkamp told them not to believe "rumor and innuendo." Their attorney insists felony, and not misdemeanor, charges should have been brought in this case. I wondered whether the female prosecutors handling this case would have viewed the case differently if the victims had been girls instead of a 14-year-old boy. In this case, it seems this victim was also black in a very white school where many of the students come from wealthy families.