High school football player quits team after rape charges

[Mitch Henessey]

A high school football player accused of rape has decided to quit the team despite school officials defending his right to play, saying he is "innocent until proven guilty," his attorney told ABC News today.

Tyler Smith, 18, was arrested last month and faces two counts of rape from an incident alleged to have happened during the summer, and another in 2012, according to court documents.

"He's not going to play for the rest of the year," Smith's attorney Scott Campbell said. "You show up at practice, there's a news truck there. It's something he and his family decided."

"He felt like it was a distraction for his team and the school and he didn't want that," Campbell said.

Hoquiam High School and the district's superintendent were allowing Smith to stay on as the team's defensive tackle, despite outrage from other students' parents, ABC affiliate KOMO reported. Hoquiam School District Superintendent Mike Parker said he backed the coach's decision to let Smith play.

"We felt that he's innocent until proven guilty," Parker told the station. "As bad as the crime might be, as repulsive as the crime might be, we're trusting that the court system will sort that out for us."

Smith is accused of raping one girl this past summer and another victim in 2012. The teen admitted to police that one of the victims said no, but stated, "Yeah, but I thought she was saying 'no' for pleasure and not to stop having sex," according to the charging documents.

Smith declined an interview with ABC News through his attorney.

Smith pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned last month. He is due back in court on Oct. 27 and his trial is scheduled for Dec. 2.

His case comes as professional and college football are also in the spotlight for abuse allegations.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/high-school-football-player-charged-rapes-quits-team/story?id=26216158

The glaring problem with this piece of news is Tyler Smith and his family made the decision to quit the team, because school officials believed he was "innocent until proven guilty." Yes, they're still waiting for the trial, and for the legal process to run its course, as more details emerge, but a suspension or an indefinite leave of absence would've been an appropriate form of punishment for the time being.

Allowing Smith to play sends a misguided message: the rape charges are not a big deal, and football is the top priority. As far as Smith and his family making the decision to quit, you get the feeling it wasn't a "we need to do the right thing" decision. If Smith and his family wanted to show any signs of nobility, he should've quit, when all of this started, before the story hit the news, right?

True, we don't have all the details yet, but the "yeah, but I thought she was saying no for pleasure and not to stop having sex," line is a troubling piece of information from the article. On top of that, we're talking about two incidents here, with the most recent incident happening over the summer. Smith's future is still up in the air, and the school and the coaches could've avoided the impending backlash, but they dropped the ball with a "let's wait and see how things play out" approach to Smith's case.

All thoughts and discussion regarding this article are welcome.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I disagree with you. The school letting the kid continue to play while the court system sorts it out isn't putting football first. It isn't the school's job to play jury here. He hasn't been convicted of anything. What if he's found innocent and/or the charges are dropped? The school may have just destroyed this kid's future for no reason. Being accused of committing a crime is not a crime.

And why would quitting when this all started show a sign of nobility? What's noble about quitting because you've been accused of something if you really didn't do it?

I just don't understand the thought process here. When someone is on trial for any violent crime, do we all believe that the person is not allowed to live their life as the trial unfolds? Are they supposed to be treated as prisoners up until the verdict? If the judge decides that the individual doesn't need to be remanded yet we decide that they aren't allowed to continue living their lives as a citizen, what the fuck is the point of having a bail hearing? Just keep everyone locked up until they are convicted or not. If you're innocent? Oh fucking well. You just lost a bunch of time you'll never get back and your life is in shambles. Sorry and shit.

People treat the phrase "Innocent until proven guilty" like it's a tired cliché but the truth is that it's actually a pretty important step in the legal process in this country. If the evidence against this kid was overwhelming, he'd be locked up and this wouldn't be a discussion. It obviously isn't so just let the courts figure it out.

 

[Mustang Sally]

"He felt like it was a distraction for his team and the school and he didn't want that," Campbell said.

I have no idea whether the kid is innocent or guilty, but his decision to quit the football team could also reflect his simply not wanting to have his case subject to a media circus. I'm neither praising nor condemning him for this; maybe he's an innocent soul being falsely accused, who truly doesn't want to subject his team and family to the ordeal.....or, maybe he's be a coward who's guilty as sin and would rather keep attention away from himself until it all comes out in the legal process.

In the movies and TV, we see the accused (who is actually innocent, of course) bravely facing the daily routines in their lives despite the horrendous treatment by folks who were close to them. That this kid chooses to limit his exposure can either be praised or damned, depending on factors of which we'll probably never know the truth, anyway.

If there's anything good that comes out of this case, it's that he made the decision not to play, not the school. His motives in doing it this way are his alone.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

There really isn't enough evidence to say whether the kid is guilty yet, I could see this case going either way. I think the school is handling the situation as well as possible right now and I actually give them credit for not sending the kid up shit creek before knowing whether or not he is guilty, they're waiting for the verdict before they move further and that is the smartest thing they could have done. It's not the school putting football first or giving the kid special treatment because he's a football player, its simply not condemning the kid until they know he's guilty.

In regards to the kid quitting the football team on his own accord I can see why he did it. Now you could argue the kid should have stayed with the football team but at the same time he has bigger fish to fry and if it really is a media circus every time he goes to practice then it might be better for the team as a whole to continue their season without him. Anyone (especially High School kids) could get easily distracted by a bombardment of media to at least some extent and it could definitely affect the teams psyche. I wouldn't necessarily say what he did was right but its most certainly understandable.

All in all, I think the school, the football team, and the kid (guilty or innocent) are handling this situation as good as they can at this point.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There's no way to know whether or not he's guilty or innocent, at least not by the information in the article. It might be an age old case of the star jock, Mr. Popularity with a massive ego decided he wanted a piece and figures that no girl can say no to him. It could also be an equally age old case of a scorned girl pissed off that she gave it up to the star jock only to discover he wasn't interested in her afterward. Maybe she feels guilty about doing it with him and is crying rape to alleviate her sense of personal guilt. There's no way to know right now.

I'm definitely troubled by the "Yeah, but I thought she was saying 'no' for pleasure and not to stop having sex" part. That just doesn't sound good any way you slice it. This is 2014 and everyone from women's rights groups to lawmakers to police officers to district attorneys have been telling everyone since before this kid was born that no means no. Don't try to look for hidden meanings or read between the lines for something that you think is there. When a girl says no, pull out, put your Joe Boxer's back on and save yourself a ton of grief. Might wind up with a case of blue balls, but it's better than the headache of having rape charges brought against you. As I said, I dunno if the kid's guilty or not, but his own statement suggests that he either doesn't have an understanding of common sense or he simply didn't care, thinking it'd be her word against his. That one line of his statement makes me highly suspicious and that alone could be enough for a jury.

 

[AlexWWE21]

I don't blame him for wanting nothing to do with the media.
To me it just sounds like another horny kid who wanted to not be called a virgin anymore. Whether he is guilty or not, we don't know. But, I do agree with him for not wanting anything to do with the media.

 

[Daggdag]

There's no way to know whether or not he's guilty or innocent, at least not by the information in the article. It might be an age old case of the star jock, Mr. Popularity with a massive ego decided he wanted a piece and figures that no girl can say no to him. It could also be an equally age old case of a scorned girl pissed off that she gave it up to the star jock only to discover he wasn't interested in her afterward. Maybe she feels guilty about doing it with him and is crying rape to alleviate her sense of personal guilt. There's no way to know right now.

I'm definitely troubled by the "Yeah, but I thought she was saying 'no' for pleasure and not to stop having sex" part. That just doesn't sound good any way you slice it. This is 2014 and everyone from women's rights groups to lawmakers to police officers to district attorneys have been telling everyone since before this kid was born that no means no. Don't try to look for hidden meanings or read between the lines for something that you think is there. When a girl says no, pull out, put your Joe Boxer's back on and save yourself a ton of grief. Might wind up with a case of blue balls, but it's better than the headache of having rape charges brought against you. As I said, I dunno if the kid's guilty or not, but his own statement suggests that he either doesn't have an understanding of common sense or he simply didn't care, thinking it'd be her word against his. That one line of his statement makes me highly suspicious and that alone could be enough for a jury.

I know of a couple cases where a girl says she does not want to have sex, but continues to willingly. and then claims rape based on the fact that she technically did say no. So you are right that this could be a case of the girl beingreluctant and giving in to sex and being and being ashamed after.


B

 

[A11oftheLights]

At least these are recent charges. Now I'm not condoning rape or sexual assault here but I completely hate when women or girls dont file for rape or sexual assault and then 10 years later cry rape when the individual is suddenly successful and in a position of money. Now I know the statute of limitations can protect you in America(i dont understand how it really works) in other countries you see people get slammed with charges that are completely ridiculous because of how old they are.

For example Majak Daw is an Australian Football player that is now facing rape charges from 2007 when he was 16 now that he's made it to the proffessional level
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...-trial-over-alleged-rape-20141216-1284pl.html
What makes this even worse to me is that someone on social media claimed that the alleged victim bragged about it at school.