DIETRICH, Idaho (AP) – An Idaho judge has sentenced a high school football player to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service after prosecutors said he took part in a locker room sexual assault on a black football player in a small Idaho town.
District Court Judge Randy Stoker sentenced John R.K. Howard of Keller, Texas, on Friday. The Times-News (http://bit.ly/2l9aA6f ) reports that Stoker’s decision included granting a withheld judgment, which means the teen’s conviction could one day be dismissed.
Howard was originally charged with sexually assaulting his classmate with a coat hanger during the October 2015 incident at Dietrich High School. But in December, Howard pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child as part of a modified guilty plea – known as an Alford plea – in which he acknowledged he would be found guilty in a trial but maintained his innocence.
Howard, who is white, is the only accused assailant whose criminal case was handled in adult court. Two others faced charges in closed juvenile court; one of them has pleaded guilty.
Meanwhile, the victim’s family has sued the school district for $10 million in damages, contending the assault was the culmination of months of racist taunts and physical abuse at the high school. The lawsuit is still pending.