Chester County DA defends investigation into assault at Conestoga High School
Responding to criticism that it was both “too harsh” and not “harsh enough,” the Chester County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday publicly defended its investigation of an incident at Conestoga High School in which a freshman football player alleged he had been sodomized with a broom handle by upperclassmen.
Releasing fresh details of negotiations between the office and defense attorneys, the office sent a six-page letter for publication by news outlets in response to what it called continuous “factual misrepresentations, victim-blaming and shaming, and a culture of denial” from “a small and very vocal minority of Conestoga football supporters.” District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan said he also worried that the criticisms might prevent victims in other cases from coming forward.
Allegations that three senior football players at one of the state’s most academically prestigious schools overpowered a freshman teammate in the locker room, held him down, and attacked him in 2015 led to the investigation and sacking of the entire coaching staff after school officials discovered hazing among players.
But in a joint statement in January, Hogan’s office and defense attorneys provided a substantially different account of the episode, removing the reference to penetration and raising questions about the nature of the incident. The three accused players admitted harassing the victim, a summary offense. This spurred some in the community to say the students were vindicated and Hogan had exaggerated.
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