The Montgomery County school system is rolling out comprehensive guidelines for supervision of student athletes in response to alleged rapes of junior-varsity football players in a Damascus High School locker room late last year.
The guidelines were distributed publicly for the first time Friday, the same day The Washington Post published new information that the Damascus High School administration did not report the alleged hazings on Halloween afternoon for more than 12 hours.
In an online story, the newspaper reported Damascus High School Principal Casey Crouse and other staff became aware of the rapes the night they occurred, but first contacted police “around 7 a.m.” the next day, Nov. 1.
In text messages obtained by the Post, Crouse asked the varsity team’s head coach, Eric Wallich, the night of Oct. 31 what the repercussions of the offenders’ actions might be.
“Everyone will Be out of the program immediately,” Wallich replied, according to the Post account. “The crazy thing is today was their last practice of the year and tomorrow is their last game”
“End of the season hmmm….” Crouse texted. “Can they be ‘suspended’ at the start of next season???”
“I’m thinking removed from the program for good,” Wallich said.
“Ohhh…..” Crouse responded.
The school system’s incident reporting policy outlines nine instances in which law enforcement must be “immediately” notified, including rape and sexual assault. It does not outline possible punishments for a staff member’s failure to report.
The policy is a “guideline and framework” to assist agencies in handling these cases, county police spokesman Capt. Tom Jordan said Friday. The school system, state’s attorney’s office and police are all involved in addressing the incident and the policy is designed to ensure efforts don’t overlap.
A school spokesman confirmed Friday that a grand jury has been convened to investigate whether there were previous “brooming” assaults at the 1,300-student school, which has been known as a football powerhouse.
The case has drawn national attention and criticism from parents that there was a lack of oversight and suggestions that hazing has been going on for years.
Four players, all 15 years old, were charged as adults in late November for what county prosecutors described as a “premeditated group sexual attack.” The players face first-degree rape, attempted rape and conspiracy charges, and their cases will be tried in juvenile court.
During open hearings for the four earlier this year, two players indicated they had been victims of similar hazing incidents themselves as freshman. Attorney Shelly Brown, representing one of the players, has said the tradition “is something that’s been going on for years at Damascus High School.”
In a letter to Damascus High families a week ago to make the community “aware of potential news coverage that will attempt to call into question the process” staff followed to report the assaults, Crouse wrote administration reacted “based on the information we had at the time.”
Crouse said in the letter “despite being approached both at work and at home,” she has declined to comment to the media and said she is committed to communicating “what I can and when I can directly with” families.
Crouse came under fire shortly after the alleged rapes for convening a meeting of the junior varsity football players Nov. 1, where she told them, “It’s all your fault,” according to one parent, who declined to provide his name for fear of retaliation against his son.
The parent said Crouse, who has been principal at the northern Montgomery school for two years, blamed the players for not stopping the attacks.
Superintendent Jack Smith has said there have been “some actions with adults” involved with the team, but did not clarify if it was disciplinary action, saying it is a “personnel issue.”
He, like Crouse, has faced backlash from community members frustrated with the school system’s clamping down on the release of new information.
Damascus families have said during public meetings they have felt “left in the dark” and don’t know how to address the issue with their children.
Smith, nearing the end of his second year at the helm of the state’s largest school system, has been firm in his stance that the charges are allegations of crimes and he is “tired of social media justice,” referring to gossip spread on the internet.
“The charges are still alleged charges of action,” school system spokesman Derek Turner said Friday.
The school system is considering bringing in an outside investigator to review the case and look into the culture in other athletic programs.
“Once the judicial process regarding this incident has concluded, MCPS will thoroughly review the incident to determine if appropriate actions were taken by staff who responded to the matter,” the school system said in a statement.
Under the new policy circulated Friday, before the start of each new athletics season, head coaches are now required to fill out a template that outlines who is responsible for pre- and post-practice and game supervision, the locker room used and contingency plans.
The new guidelines say coaches receive an hour of locker room supervision per day in their stipends and principals are expected to implement supervision plans. Coaches are also required to show athletes a PowerPoint, which includes information about the harmful effects of bullying, hazing and harassment.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
Charlie Wright can be reached at charlie.wright@moco360.media
