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Judge calls ruling in attack on teammate 'very difficult.' Codefendant guilty of hazing only
By Carl Chancellor
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Wednesday, Mar 19, 2008
Robert Underwood, a 17-year-old Tallmadge High School football player, was found guilty Tuesday of delinquency charges of rape and hazing stemming from an incident last summer at the school.
A teammate — a 17-year-old senior — was found not guilty of complicity to commit rape, but guilty of hazing.
According to the prosecution, Underwood will be required to register as a sex offender as a result of the conviction.
Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio — calling her decision ''very difficult'' — said she came to her ruling in part because she found the victim ''very credible.''
On the witness stand Monday, the 16-year-old victim, who was 15 when attacked, testified of being accosted by several teammates last August after football practice.
The victim said he was forced to the ground, his pants were pulled down and he was jabbed repeatedly in the buttocks with a plastic drinking straw.
The victim said he struggled unsuccessfully to free himself and stop the attack. He said the incident with the straw lasted only ''five to eight seconds,'' but
the straw entered his rectum more than once.
Underwood was clearly stunned by Teodosio's ruling and struggled unsuccessfully to fight back tears. The judge ordered a psychological evaluation and scheduled the teen's sentencing in six weeks.
He left the courtroom before his codefendant was sentenced.
Teodosio spoke tersely to the 17-year-old high school senior.
''What I see is a young man who thinks everything is a joke, that everything is fun and games. . . . Someone who doesn't think before he acts. I find that very disturbing,'' said Teodosio, noting the defendant's juvenile record.
She also scolded him for not apologizing to the victim and his family in open court.
''It is not OK to disrespect other people. It is mind-boggling that you could do this to a teammate,'' Teodosio said.
Hazing sentence
She sentenced the teen to 90 days in the county juvenile detention center, which she suspended if he completes four months on probation and doesn't commit another offense; a letter of apology to the victim; a five-page essay about bullying; and 40 hours of community service.
In addition, she ordered him to have no contact with the victim or his family, other than the letter of apology.
The prosecution completed its case late Monday afternoon, and the defense was to present its evidence Tuesday morning. However, when court began Tuesday, attorneys George Keith and Scott Rilley decided not to call witnesses and went to closing arguments.
During their closing, Prosecutors Zachary Swisher and Daniel Riedl, with the Ohio Attorney General's Office, pointed out that very few facts in the case were in dispute.
''The only issue before the court is if the straw penetrated the rectum,'' Riedl said. He said insertion, however slight, is sufficient for the charge of rape.
Riedl noted that both defendants held the victim down and were active participants in the assault.
Keith, who represented Underwood, disputed in his closing that a rape took place. He said the victim even told police on at least one occasion that he wasn't certain whether the straw entered his body.
Keith said his client's actions weren't purposeful. . . . ''If it (the insertion of the straw) happened, it happened by accident.''
Keith declined comment after the hearing.
Cindy George case cited
Rilley, who represented the 17-year-old found guilty only of the hazing count, invoked the name of Cindy George — whose 2005 complicity to murder charge was overturned on appeal last year — to argue that his client wasn't guilty of complicity to commit rape.
Rilley said that an appeals court found that even though George had financed the purchase of several items used in the 2001 killing of her former lover Jeffrey Zack, she had no previous knowledge that John Zaffino, another lover, would murder Zack.
''(My client) had to know a rape would happen, and he had to have had specific intent to assist in making it happen,'' Rilley said.
Before the sentencing, Teodosio allowed the sister of the victim, who is also a Tallmadge High School student, to speak.
''You will never understand what you did to my family and how much you have publicly humiliated my brother. . . . What you did was not something funny,'' she said, directing her comments to Rilley's client.
Prosecuting attorney Swisher said the 17-year-old convicted of rape could receive a wide range of punishment, from probation to confinement in a youth correctional facility until he reaches age 21.
In December, a 17-year-old teammate was given 40 hours of community service and other sanctions after pleading guilty to a delinquency charge of disorderly conduct for his role in the incident.
In November, charges against a 16-year-old were dismissed.
Two other players, one 16 and one 17, each pleaded guilty to one delinquency charge of hazing. They were given 40 hours of community service and ordered to write five-page essays on bullying.
They also were ordered to have no contact with the victim or his family.
Carl Chancellor can be reached at 330-996-3725 or cchancellor@thebeaconjournal.com.
Robert Underwood, a 17-year-old Tallmadge High School football player, was found guilty Tuesday of delinquency charges of rape and hazing stemming from an incident last summer at the school.
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