The following is the result of a more than 18-month long investigation by Talk Williamsport into the Williamsport Area High School Baseball Team trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the spring of 2018.
This story is graphic and contains details related to multiple indecent sexual assaults.
The author and editor of this story have made the editorial decision to not publish the names of the individuals under the age of 18 at the time of the incident who have been clearly identified as committing these acts in this case since they have not been formally charged with a crime.
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball
IF NOTHING HAPPENED IN MYRTLE BEACH
WHY WON’T THE WASD TELL US THE STORY?
PART XI
By Todd Bartley, Talk Williamsport
News@talkwilliamsport.com
RESIGNATIONS DEMANDED OF WASD OFFICIALS BASED ON MYRTLE BEACH INCIDENT
As exclusively reported by Talk Williamsport, last night at the March 3, 2020 WASD School Board meeting, Williamsport community member Carlos Saldivia was granted five minutes to speak during the “ITEMS FROM PUBLIC” portion of the agenda.
In prepared comments to the WASD School Board Saldivia asked “the WASD Superintendent, WASD Board President, RTK Officer, WAHS Pricipal and WAHS Athletic Director to immediately resign” based on the Myrtle Beach incident.
The current WASD Superintendent is Dr. Timothy Bowers.
The current WASD Board President is Lori Baer.
The current WASD Right-To-Know Law (RTK) Officer is Wanda Erb.
The current WAHS Head Principal is Brandon Pardoe.
The current WAHS Athletic Director is Sean McCann.
As previously reported in this series and confirmed in writing by Wanda Erb as the WASD RTK Officer Pardoe and McCann were both on the WAHS baseball team Myrtle Beach trip in 2018.
SALDIVIA ALSO ASKS WASD SCHOOL BOARD FOR THE
“WAHS BASEBALL PROGRAM TO BE IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY
Again as exclusively reported by Talk Williamsport, during the the March 3, 2020 WASD School Board meeting, Williamsport community member Carlos Saldivia added to his comments during the “ITEMS FROM PUBLIC” portion of the agenda.
Community member Carlos Saldivia also asked the WASD School Board, “…and the H.S. baseball team program be immediately suspended indefinitely, as there are students on the team that are among the accused perpetrators of said sexual attacks and the District can’t be viewed as giving aid, comfort and cover to kids that sexually attacked, other kids.”
WASD School Board Members, Pictured: Standing from left is Patrick Dixon, Barbara Reeves, Marc Schefsky, Star Poole and Adam Welteroth. Seated from left is President Lori Baer, Vice President Dr. Jane Penman, Dr. Nancy Story Somers and Jennifer Lake. (Photo courtesy, WASD.ORG)
FULL CARLOS SALDIVIA COMMENTS BEFORE THE WASD SCHOOL BOARD
James Madison wrote, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary”.
But, I’m just a guy, and the reason why I became involved in this incident was because justice wasn’t being fully served, and, in an uncaring world lacking angels, did not look like it was going to be served, anytime soon.
Human beings are frail, weak and easily susceptible.
THATS THE REASON WE prize and admire courage and action, because it’s so scarce.
THAT’S why we admire leadership & action.
So I ask myself, why has the District not been more robust and responsive to the doubts and concerns of homeowners and taxpayers?
As a political media operative I would be the very first person to defend, that many times you have to accept the consensus of the people in charge, but to do and say nothing in light of the obvious signs in this case, looks like political malfeasance.
YOU LOSE THE CLOAK OF PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE – for God’s sake Fred (Holland, WASD Solicitor), that’s just common sense, not legal genius!
THAT’S why I’m tough on you, because you fail to take any risks to stand on principle and personal accountability—because when we as parents aren’t present—who else is, if not you?
I came in front of you 2 months ago with 20 questions and there was no call, no email, no text, no letter, nobody showed up at my house, no sign language, no smoke signals, NO “response”.
“Inaccurate and misinformation on social media,” was the response, NOT that you had any sort of responsibility to us.
YOU’RE NOT ACCOUNTABLE TO US, how is that possible in the American tradition of government, founded by men like Madison?
How in your operational calculations do you not have a contingency to keep us informed?
How can that be?
Now that Kline & Specter has served notice that there is indeed a “there,” there given that they’re in possession of a video depicting an indecent sexual assault?
And now there’s a knife of litigation of uncounted millions of dollars, at our throat?
I feel like you failed to protect us from this..
For these reasons – I’m asking the Superintendent, Board President, RTK Officer, the H. S. Principal, and the AD to immediately resign, and the H.S. baseball team program be immediately suspended indefinitely, as there are students on the team that are among the accused perpetrators of said sexual attacks and the District can’t be viewed as giving aid, comfort and cover to kids that sexually attacked, other kids.
Truth and action equal trust, but that time has passed.
LOCAL POLITICAL ACTIVIST JASON FITZGERALD WEIGHS IN
Jason Fitzgerald, a longtime political activist and active Williamsport community member contacted Talk Williamsport after seeing the WASD School Board news from last evening and offered the following.
“I am happy that the family of the victim (JOHN DOE #1) in this case has decided to seek appropriate recourse, but as a taxpayer and a lifelong active member of this community I demand more.
I think that the best way for the WASD to regain the trust and confidence of the taxpayers and parents is for (WASD Superintendent) Dr. Bowers to resign immediately.
Until that happens, I do not know how anyone can trust their children will be safe in the Williamsport Area School District.”
Talk Williamsport asked Fitzgerald about the initial Myrtle Beach incident involving JOHN DOE #1.
He responded, “Sexual assault is not a joke. It is more than inappropriate, it is illegal and anyone who defends it; is just as despicable as someone who commits the crime itself.”
Asked about the law firm representing the family of the victim (JOHN DOE #1) in this case, Fitzgerald provided this assessment.
“Kline & Specter is by far one of the best law firms in the country and with that the victim (JOHN DOE #1) in this case will be likely to secure significant damages in this case.
The unfortunate thing will be as taxpayers we will have to pay for mistakes of the so called leaders of the Williamsport Area School District.”
He concluded, “I cannot believe that people from this region would not have learned the tough lessons of the Jerry Sandusky/Penn State scandal.”
MYRTLE BEACH RAPE CRISIS CENTER OFFERS INSIGHT
Talk Williamsport sought clarification on aspects of the characterization by WASD Solicitor Fred Holland of “indecent and inappropriate conduct on the part of a WAHS baseball player”.
Contacted for this part of the story, Tracy Bowie the Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; shared the following.
“In South Carolina, if someone is considered physically helpless (asleep), that would fall under the Criminal Sexual Conduct 3rd degree charge.
South Carolina does not have a statute of limitations on criminal sexual conduct charges.”
When asked about the impact on victims, Bowie said, “Sexual assault can have devastating consequences for victims, especially if they are not believed, not supported, and/or not provided with resources.
Statistics prove that sexual assault can play a role in medical problems in the future of a victim.”
Bowie was asked by FSW, generally speaking, should the victims in this case be heard?
Her response, “While neither I nor the Rape Crisis Center can comment directly on this alleged incident, I would hope that the truth prevails.
If a sexual assault occurred, it should be addressed. It is both illegal and devastating. Victims deserve a voice and deserve justice.”
More information is available at the link provided.
MANDATED REPORTER REQUIREMENTS ACCORDING TO CHILDWELFARE.GOV
Approximately 47 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands designate professions whose members are mandated by law to report child maltreatment.
Individuals designated as mandatory reporters typically have frequent contact with children. The professionals most commonly mandated to report across the States include the following:
ƒ Social workers
ƒ Teachers, principals, and other school personnel
ƒ Physicians, nurses, and other health-care workers
ƒ Counselors, therapists, and other mental health professionals
ƒ Child care providers
ƒ Medical examiners or coroners
ƒ Law enforcement officers
SOUTH CAROLINA CRIMINAL STATUES THAT COULD BE APPLIED IN THIS CASE
SECTION 16-3-651. Criminal sexual conduct; definitions.
For the purposes of Sections 16-3-651 to 16-3-659.1:
(a) “Actor” means a person accused of criminal sexual conduct.
(b) “Aggravated coercion” means that the actor threatens to use force or violence of a high and aggravated nature to overcome the victim or another person, if the victim reasonably believes that the actor has the present ability to carry out the threat, or threatens to retaliate in the future by the infliction of physical harm, kidnapping or extortion, under circumstances of aggravation, against the victim or any other person.
(c) “Aggravated force” means that the actor uses physical force or physical violence of a high and aggravated nature to overcome the victim or includes the threat of the use of a deadly weapon.
(d) “Intimate parts” includes the primary genital area, anus, groin, inner thighs, or buttocks of a male or female human being and the breasts of a female human being.
(e) “Mentally defective” means that a person suffers from a mental disease or defect which renders the person temporarily or permanently incapable of appraising the nature of his or her conduct.
(f) “Mentally incapacitated” means that a person is rendered temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling his or her conduct whether this condition is produced by illness, defect, the influence of a substance or from some other cause.
(g) “Physically helpless” means that a person is unconscious, asleep, or for any other reason physically unable to communicate unwillingness to an act.
(h) “Sexual battery” means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person’s body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person’s body, except when such intrusion is accomplished for medically recognized treatment or diagnostic purposes.
(i) “Victim” means the person alleging to have been subjected to criminal sexual conduct.
HISTORY:
1977 Act No. 157 Section 1.
SECTION 16-3-652. Criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree if the actor engages in sexual battery with the victim and if any one or more of the following circumstances are proven:
(a) The actor uses aggravated force to accomplish sexual battery.
(b) The victim submits to sexual battery by the actor under circumstances where the victim is also the victim of forcible confinement, kidnapping, trafficking in persons, robbery, extortion, burglary, housebreaking, or any other similar offense or act.
(c) The actor causes the victim, without the victim’s consent, to become mentally incapacitated or physically helpless by administering, distributing, dispensing, delivering, or causing to be administered, distributed, dispensed, or delivered a controlled substance, a controlled substance analogue, or any intoxicating substance.
(2) Criminal sexual conduct in the first degree is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than thirty years, according to the discretion of the court.
HISTORY:
1977 Act No. 157 Section 2;
1998 Act No. 372, Section 4;
2000 Act No. 355, Section 1;
2010 Act No. 289, Section 5, eff June 11, 2010.
SECTION 16-3-653. Criminal sexual conduct in the second degree.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree if the actor uses aggravated coercion to accomplish sexual battery.
(2) Criminal sexual conduct in the second degree is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than twenty years according to the discretion of the court.
HISTORY:
1977 Act No. 157 Section 3.
SECTION 16-3-654. Criminal sexual conduct in the third degree.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree if the actor engages in sexual battery with the victim and if any one or more of the following circumstances are proven:
(a) The actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the sexual battery in the absence of aggravating circumstances.
(b) The actor knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless and aggravated force or aggravated coercion was not used to accomplish sexual battery.
(2) Criminal sexual conduct in the third degree is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten years, according to the discretion of the court.
VICTIM REALITY AFTER AN ASSAULT
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the consequences of sexual violence are physical, like bruising and genital injuries, and psychological, such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
The consequences may also be chronic.
Victims may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, experience re-occurring gynecological, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and sexual health problems.
Sexual violence is also linked to negative health behaviors.
For example, victims are more likely to smoke, abuse alcohol, use drugs, and engage in risky sexual activity.
The trauma resulting from sexual violence can have an impact on a survivor’s employment in terms of time off from work, diminished performance, job loss, or being unable to work. These disrupt earning power and have a long-term effect on the economic well-being of survivors and their families.
Readjustment after victimization can be challenging: victims may have difficulty in their personal relationships, in returning to work or school, and in regaining a sense of normalcy.
In addition, sexual violence is connected to other forms of violence.
For example, girls who have been sexually abused are more likely to experience other forms of violence and additional sexual violence, and be a victim of intimate partner violence in adulthood.
Perpetrating bullying in early middle school is associated with sexual harassment perpetration in adolescence.”
MYRTLE BEACH TRIP ANNIVERSARY APPROACHING
At this writing, the 2-year anniversary of the 2018 Myrtle Beach trip is less than 3 weeks away.
LINKS TO 11-PART SERIES PUBLISHED BY Talk Williamsport
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART XI
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART X
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART IX
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART VIII
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART VII
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART VI
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART V
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART IV
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART III
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART II
A Baseball Story In The Birthplace Of Little League Baseball – PART I
