Three of five former Juanita football players plead down in sodomy case

Published 10:24 am Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Three of the five Juanita High School (JHS) students accused of assaulting a special needs student in the school locker room have pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

The three students pleaded guilty to third degree assault and were sentenced Monday in Juvenile Court to 12 months of community supervision, 48 hours of community service, as well as other conditions, including that they not re-enroll at JHS.

The cases against the remaining two students are still pending in Juvenile Court, according to King County Prosecutor’s Spokesperson Dan Donohoe. One of the defendants will have a case scheduling hearing on Wednesday and the other is scheduled for trial on Oct. 19.

All five of the former JHS football players were charged with second degree attempted rape for trying to sodomize a special-needs student on Oct. 22.

The five players, all freshman C-Team players on the JHS football team at the time of the incident, were accused by the King County Prosecutor’s Office of having planned to sodomize the student as part of hazing ritual known as “jubie,” according to court documents.

The defendants lured the special needs student, an 18-year-old senior, into the shower area of the locker room by telling the victim that they had a picture of his girlfriend and teased him about it, the documents continue.

According to the police report, witnesses said the incident appeared to be retaliation for some horseplay earlier that afternoon involving several players, including the victim, who were throwing ice and water at each other.

Several witnesses also told investigators that one of the suspects was filming the incident on his cell phone.

After repeated attempts to hurt the victim, the five suspects fled the locker room. According to the victim, the suspects let go of him when other football players who walked in told the suspects “this isn’t funny.”

The Kirkland Police Department was later contacted by the aunt of the victim, who had been informed of the incident by JHS Athletic Director Steve Juzeler. Former JHS head football coach Shaun Tarantola, who left the school for unrelated reasons last spring, also called the victim’s home that night to apologize for the incident, according to a statement by the victim.

During the follow-up investigation, police discovered one of the suspects sent out a text to the other four prior to the attempted rape saying they were “gonna jubie” the victim. Shortly before the attempted rape another suspect said “Alright, it’s time” before heading to the shower area, according to witnesses.

Four of the students were questioned at the school by officers, and while several of the suspects initially denied involvement. One confessed to trying to sodomize the victim with the broom handle, the documents continue. The Reporter is not naming the defendants as they were charged in juvenile court.

All four were arrested and then released to their parents. The fifth suspect did not show up for school the day after the incident and was later brought to the KPD by his father.

The KPD investigation concluded that “it is clear (victim’s name withheld) was lured into the shower area of the Juanita boy’s locker room to be assaulted. Further it is clear that the suspect’s intentions were to perform a hazing ritual act known as to football players as ‘jubie.'”

Lake Washingon School District officials have stated that they are not able to discuss most of the details about the investigation or any information about the students involved due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law regarding student privacy, which prohibits them from releasing information about students.