| Author |
Message |
    
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5988
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 1:55 pm: | 
|
What do you think?
Ruling in Deer Decoy Prank Divides City
Judge Allows Teens to Play Football Before Jail
By JoANNE VIVIANO, AP
KENTON, Ohio (Aug. 19) - It was intended to be a prank: steal a decoy deer, place it on a country road and watch as motorists swerved to avoid it.
It ended with two teenagers suffering serious injuries when their car hit the decoy and rolled into a ditch.
When a judge ruled this week that two boys - both high school football players - can complete the football season before they serve 60-day sentences at a juvenile detention center, it caused a division in this northwest Ohio city.
On one side are those who say allowing Dailyn Campbell, a 16-year-old quarterback, and 17-year-old teammate Jesse Howard to play shows that football players get preferential treatment.
"They could have killed me and my friend so easily over a stupid prank."
-Robert Roby Jr.
On the other are those who say either the boys deserve another chance or that they will stay out of trouble if they're part of the team.
"I've never seen anything that has been so much an issue in the community," said Arch Rodgers, principal of 670-student Kenton High School. "The worst part is this has drug out so long and the longer it drug out, the more it created friction in the community."
Robert Roby Jr., one of the injured teens, said he believes Campbell and Howard received special treatment because they're football players.
"They could have killed me and my friend so easily over a stupid prank. For me it feels like they got a little slap on the wrist," said Roby, 19, who graduated from Kenton High in 2005 and played baseball and golf.
"Kenton is a big football town and a lot of people don't look past that to see what really happened," he said.
The Wildcats, which won state championships in their division in 2001 and 2002, draw about 4,000 fans for games in this city of about 8,000.
"I don't know why it's about football players. Why isn't it about student council or track?"
-Football player Jesse Howard's father
Howard's father, C.J. Howard, said members of the community have made crude remarks when his family shops at a nearby Wal-Mart store and that his younger children are taunted by older youth when they play in the yard.
He said his son would not be the focus of such attention if he didn't play football.
"I don't know why it's about football players. Why isn't it about student council or track?" Howard asked. "He admitted what he did and he faced the consequences like a young man should."
School Superintendent Doug Roberts said the crash has drawn attention because the emphasis the news media and the community placed on football.
Authorities say a group of teenagers stole the two-legged decoy deer from a yard, rigged it so it would stand and placed it in the road on Nov. 18. The decoy was at the top of a hill on the curving road, Roby said, and he didn't see it until it was right in front of his car.
"I panicked and swerved to go around it," he said. Roby's seat belt gave way, his head broke the car's sun roof and he fell to the ground. He heard his passenger, Dustin Zachariah, hit the ground. Prosecutors say Zachariah, now 18, suffered brain damage.
Investigators say Howard, a senior, was among the boys who watched the cars. He and Campbell, a junior, pleaded no contest in juvenile court to vehicular vandalism, possession of criminal tools and petty theft.
Campbell's mother, Donna Deisler, declined to comment on the case. Messages seeking comment were left for her son's attorney, Mike Hood. Zachariah's mother, Kathy Piper, did not return calls seeking comment.
Roby is recovering from broken bones in his neck, arm and leg. He spent about three months in a neck brace and has had 10 surgeries. He faces one more surgery on his leg and said he hopes soon to return to the University of Northwestern Ohio.
"It's been a long tunnel, but it's getting shorter," he said.
Howard and Campbell are to remain on house arrest once released, pay fines, perform community service and each write an essay titled "Why I Should Think Before I Act." Trials are pending for three other defendants.
Howard's mother, Valerie Berry of Ashland, Ky., said her son has a strong support system and will be able to move on.
"With this stunt he was a child," she said. "He's an adult now."
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/ruling-in-deer-decoy-prank-divides-city/200 60819065209990002
08/19/06 06:51 EDT
|
Rosiegirl
Citizen
Username: Rosiegirl
Post Number: 31
Registered: 5-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 5:49 pm: |
|
I saw this and it made my skin crawl. What are we teaching our kids?
On the other are those who say either the boys deserve another chance or that they will stay out of trouble if they're part of the team.
Let them work with other inmates cleaning up the highway!! That will teach them teamwork!!
|
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 5581
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 6:33 pm: |
|
Being part of the team is what lets them think they won't get into trouble in the first place. |
Glock 17
Citizen
Username: Glock17
Post Number: 1783
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 9:19 pm: |
|
"On the other are those who say either the boys deserve another chance or that they will stay out of trouble if they're part of the team. "
Obviously nothaha. they were part of the team when they did the prank.
|
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5996
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 9:35 am: |
|
I couldn't believe it either. If these were my kids I wouldn't have made the comments these parents made. |
Glock 17
Citizen
Username: Glock17
Post Number: 1785
Registered: 7-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 11:29 am: |
|
I think they should be put in the meanest jail they can find. That poor kid was stuck with months of rehibilitation. Thefootballl player's fmailies should be paying for that too. |
Project 37
Citizen
Username: Project37
Post Number: 284
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - 8:15 am: |
|
Quote:When a judge ruled this week that two boys - \both high school football players - can complete the football season before they serve 60-day sentences at a juvenile detention center
Wow, it's such a relief that they're allowed to have fun and participate in recreational sports before getting punished.
Meanwhile:
Quote:Roby is recovering from broken bones in his neck, arm and leg. He spent about three months in a neck brace and has had 10 surgeries. He faces one more surgery on his leg and said he hopes soon to return to the University of Northwestern Ohio.
What a #$%&ing joke. The dad is a jackass.  |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page