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Lacrosse Sex Scandal — Sexual Assault or Prank?
By
Ben Muessig
Published Nov 25, 2009
Modified Nov 25, 2009
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Nov 25, 2009
Modified Nov 25, 2009
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An 18-year-old student at Sacred Heart University claims that three lacrosse players at the Connecticut school — one of them a Long Island native — sexually assaulted her in a dorm room last weekend. The victim was having consensual sex with 19-year-old freshman Timothy Sanders, when the suspect allegedly held her down and shouted for his two teammates, freshmen Nicholas Travers and Zachari Triner, to join in, according to police. The two men then purportedly ran naked into the dorm room and touched the woman inappropriately. After she screamed and struggled, Travers and Triner fled.
But Sanders' lawyer claims the incident was an alcohol-fueled joke, not a criminal matter. "This young woman was unfairly humiliated by some college boy prank. This is not a sexual assault," said attorney Wayne Keeney, who claims that the lacrosse players have been negatively stereotyped: "I guess lacrosse is the new preppy version of al Qaeda." According to Keeney, the two other students "certainly never touched the girl. And they left the room immediately." The attorney also stated that the bed was lofted 5 feet off the floor, raising questions about the woman's description of events, and he claims that Travers — the Smithtown native — wasn't involved in any way.
Neighbors from Travers' hometown compared the allegations to the false rape charges against the Duke University lacrosse team and those leveled against several students at Hofstra University. "Untrue," said Angela Amoroso. "That is not what happened at all. Those kids are respectable kids, all of them, that whole family." But Sacred Heart student Danielle Palmaccio had this to say: "I think she'd be telling the truth. Why wouldn't she? I know sometimes information gets skewed but I don't think she would lie about it." The suspects have been charged with conspiracy to commit sexual assault and have been suspended from school and the lacrosse team.
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prank
sacred heart university
sexual assault
Ben Muessig
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