Posted on 10/05/2023 4:03:23 PM PDT by Morgana
Six South Dakota baseball players aged 17 to 19 have been charged in connection with the rape of two minors - with one of their victims identified as a male.
Lincoln Bates, 18, Hudson Haley, 18, Carter Miller, 18, Landon Waddell, 19, Peyton Mandel, 17, and Karter Sibson, 17 are all accused of the sex assaults while participating in a tournament between June 1 and 4.
All six are charged with second-degree rape and aiding and abetting second-degree rape.
Haley faces an extra rape charge for a second victim, while Waddell was charged with two counts of aiding and abetting for a second victim.
Both victims were 16 at the time. The gender of the second victim is unknown.
The circumstances of the assault were initially framed as a 'team hazing ritual', but Pennington County State's Attorney Lara Roetzel rejected the notion, instead calling it a 'forcible assault.'
The former Mitchell Legion teammates pleaded 'not guilty' during their first court hearing on Tuesday.
Bates and Waddell have since graduated from Mitchell High School, where they played on the Legions baseball team. The four other defendants are still students.
The charges are Class 1 Felonies punishable by up to 50 years in prison.
This means Haley and Waddell could face up to 150 years each.
Although Mandel and Sibson - the 17-year-olds - are minors, they are being tried as adults due to South Dakota law and the severity of the crime.
Back in June, the Mitchell Baseball Association suspended team activities amid allegations of player misconduct.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
They are back on the team playing ball by now.
The law will not do anything to them.
They know they have nothing to worry about.
Lol. I see you noticed that too.
Yup, just as those who implemented the curiculum wanted, I suppose, otherwise they would not have let it be implemented.
I think those school board folks and theachers of such classes who approved curiculum and taught it should also be charged.
More likely the team of rapists were making an example of a younger or weaker team member of the same sex. Or perhaps the boyfriend of the female victim. It’s happened before.
They are animals, just put them all down.
Even a year in prison will seem like an eternity.......
This is a small city of 15,000. How far down the slippery slope we’ve gone
There was no female involved???????
I don't really to laugh or cry...........
Exactly, this country is turning into Sodom and Gomorrah!
I’m thinking castration and hanging in the public square!
Looks like Landon got held back a year at some point.
It happened in NJ at least twice, team hazing, group rape with object.
I truly do not understand the motivation.
We should remember that this is Davison county.
Davison county was where the Thune/ Johnson voter fraud , broken computer case began.
Walking out on a technicality is a possibility
Well....a lot of surnames are actually only, or first names, when you think about it.
Peterson is son of Peter. Thompson, son of Thomas. Jacobson. Hansen. Richardson.
Then there are names like Edwards, Scott, etc.
“Maybe, but we shouldn’t think that kids in “red” areas are immune from the pernicious influences of pop culture and social media.”
Obviously, particularly athletes. Even so, I cannot help but remember the Duke case and Gorsuch, so before I attack these suspects, I would want to know more - such as whether the girls have any hard evidence (hospital records, recordings, etc.), or is it unsupported claims.
It was not a school baseball team, but the American Legion. They sponsor baseball teams after the school year ends My town’s American Legion team was great growing up ..
It’s not a school team. Appears to be American Legion.
Long, long before I was 17 I knew rape was a horrible crime. These people need 50 years or so to ponder their acts.
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