The Disturbing Rape of a Mentally-disabled football player

I know people often like to correct me with "alleged" but screw it.. I believe him.

'Ringleader' of coat-hanger-rape of disabled black football player pleads not guilty at his arraignment in brutal crime that divided small Idaho town

September 7, 2016

One of the teens accused of being the ringleader in sexually assaulting a mentally-disabled black football player with a coat hanger pleaded not guilty in court to the shocking crime that has divided the small Idaho town.

John Howard, 18, appeared in a Gooding County Courthouse Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty to felony forcible penetration by use of a foreign object, KMVT reported.

'Ringleader' Howard


Howard, who now lives in Texas, is one of three Dietrich High School students charged in the October 23 assault, and is the only one who is being charged as an adult.

Howard, Tanner Ward, 17, and an unnamed 16-year-old male who was originally charged as a juvenile are accused of pinning the alleged victim down to the ground in the locker room as one assaulted him with the coat hanger.

Prosecutors say that Howard kicked the coat hanger several times. A trial date for the case is expected to be set next week and if he is convicted, Howard faces up to life in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.

He would also have to register as a sex offender. The third teen's case in the alleged incident is sealed.

Last week, Ward had his case moved to juvenile court reportedly part of a plea negotiation.


Tanner Ward

Shelly McDaniel, the white adoptive mother of the alleged victim, expressed her outrage at the move by prosecutors in a post on her Facebook page.




McDaniel filed a civil lawsuit in May against the Dietrich School District claiming that she spent months warning the school about racist threats her children faced prior to the alleged sexual assault of her son.

In the $10million lawsuit, the victim contends one of his teammates pretended to want to hug him but instead held him down Ward and Howard could assault him.

The victim was adopted by the McDaniels after being exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero. He has been diagnosed with disorganized schizophrenia.

The McDaniels have 20 adopted children, five biological children and the father teaches biology at the high school. He had previously ran into controversy following complaints when he used the word 'vagina' during class.


Here with 4 of their kids.

'I needed to know how to keep him safe, and we were just shunned,' McDaniel said in an interview with The Washington Post earlier this year.

The alleged attack came after the woman said she spent months trying to convince school officials that her and her husband's concerns about the repeated racist harassment directed at their children needed to be treated seriously.

The allegations of prolonged racist taunts and physical abuse were revealed this month when the family filed a $10million lawsuit against the Dietrich School District.

It claims the school failed to prevent the abuse even though much of it happened in front of football coaches and school officials.

McDaniel found out about most of the abuse from her son Rasaan, who is the equipment manager on the football team.

He told his mother the boys were taunting his older brother, and when the boy came home one day with torn underwear after receiving a 'wedgie' from the boys, McDaniel said she decided to go and speak with the school principal.

The principal told her to instruct the coach of the team, Michael Torgerson.

Soon after the coat-hanger assault occurred, which McDaniel learned about from Rasaan.

She took her son to the hospital where the assault was confirmed and authorities were notified by hospital staff.

The victim's mother said her son was not alone in experiencing hurtful comments from fellow students.

Another son was called the N-word in grade school, a daughter was called 'Aunt Jemima,' and another child was told by fellow students to 'go back to Africa.'

The school district treated the taunts with indifference, she said.

School officials have repeatedly denied requests for comment.

The black student was called a 'n*****', a 'chicken eater', 'Kool-Aid' and 'watermelon', as well as a litany of other racial slurs, it is alleged in the lawsuit.

He also claims in the lawsuit that teammates would 'hump' him and simulate anal sex by jumping on him from behind during football practice.

The teammates are also alleged to have stripped the teenager naked on a bus and taken photographs of him naked.

He was also allegedly forced to sing a Ku Klux Klan song called Notorious KKK, which Howard learned when he lived in Texas, as the other players displayed a Confederate flag.

The black teenager also claims that Howard beat him unconscious at a training camp designed to 'toughen up' the team.

Howard was bare-knuckled but the alleged victim was made to wear boxing gloves, he claims.

'The beating of the plaintiff was accompanied by catcalls, taunts and racial epithets of the football players/students in full view of the coaches who not only failed to prevent the abuse but actively promoted it,' the lawsuit states.

*******

However, other residents of the town that revolves largely around church and school sports say it's a safe and welcoming place. They're stunned by the allegations, but some are unhappy the family took the district to court.

Melissa Towne, 37, who has spent her whole life in the town of about 330 people, says Dietrich is a good place despite the negative attention. People wave at one another as they pass on the mostly gravel roads, and Towne makes it a point to welcome the occasional new neighbor.

'We never had this kind of attention when I was in school,' she said.

'But I still like it here. We have good people here. I like living in a small town, and so do a lot of people who live here.'

Most residents attend church in the simple Mormon building that marks the town's main entrance. Basketball is the favored sport because of a series of state championships, but the high school football program is gaining popularity thanks to a recent winning streak and new equipment donations.

'In this town, it's all about your name and how athletic you are,' the victim's mother said.

She and her husband have lived in Dietrich for more than two decades, though many of their children are older and have moved away. Large families and adoptions are common in the Mormon faith.

Most families in Dietrich, about 125 miles east of Boise, tally their time there in decades, not years.

'Everyone who is from here pitches in and helps each other,' said Clay Divine, who has lived in the town for more than 30 years.

'Those kids were not from here. This is a nice community.'

.....Howard, moved to Dietrich last year from Keller, Texas.
But he's related to a Dietrich celebrity — Acey Shaw, a beloved girls' basketball coach who led the team to a record five state championships.

The town rallied around Shaw after he contracted a rare bovine disease that stole his ability to walk and most of his ability to talk.

The victim's lawsuit cited that family connection, arguing school officials looked the other way on Howard's behavior because of his relatives.

Divine said he felt bad for the victim and understands why the state pressed charges against his teammates. But the lawsuit has given the town another black eye, Divine said, and in the insular community, that offense can be hard to forgive.

'This lawsuit really has people divided,' Divine said.

'But it happened on the coaches' watch, and this is something that young man is going to have to live with his whole life.'

Divine's children grew up in the Dietrich school system, where they played sports and studied hard in a safe environment. He's not sure that's the case now.

'This is a good town for my grandchildren. I just don't think I would send them to the school anymore,' he said.

Just down the road, the victim's mother was working in her front yard, waiting for a call back from a real estate agent. After 21 years in Dietrich, they're searching for someplace safer.

 

No surprise the people who have been there for decades are going to say it's a good town. And who knows, it may be, but small town pride may be what keeps people from actually giving a fuck.

At least they got physical evidence though. Damn shame.

 

That was tough to read, fucked up people in this world.