Tammy Starring, the mother of 17-year-old Sierra Vista High School student Daman Starring, hugs two family members Friday after her son was led away in handcuffs. Daman Starring was sentenced to 30 days in juvenile detention and two years' probation on two counts of battery and open and gross lewdness in the assault of a fellow basketball player. Photo by Clint Karlsen. Daman Starring Youth's sentence tougher than that advised by probation board

The 17-year-old Sierra Vista High School student accused of sexually assaulting a fellow basketball player was led away in handcuffs Friday after a judge sentenced him to 30 days in juvenile detention.

Daman Starring's family members sat slack-jawed after Family Court Judge William Voy sentenced Starring to 30 days in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center and two years' probation.

Court bailiffs immediately brandished handcuffs and led the teen out of the courtroom as several of his family members began to weep.

"I don't think they expected that," said Frank Cremen, Starring's attorney. "I didn't, truthfully, expect that."

Voy's sentence was tougher than the Clark County probation board's recommendation that Starring receive two years' probation.

Starring was found guilty of battery and open and gross lewdness June 9 stemming from allegations that he inserted a finger into the rectum of a fellow Sierra Vista High School basketball player Feb. 3 in the school's gym.

Starring was found not guilty of an additional charge of sexual assault.

"That's not right, that's not right," Sierra Vista junior varsity basketball coach Robert Johnson said after Starring was led away.

Johnson, who testified during the trial, said Friday that he was supportive of Starring, whom he said had a "track record for honesty." Johnson said the victim had a track record for dishonesty.

"(Starring is) as good a kid as you're going to get," Johnson said.

After the sentencing, Starring's mother, visibly upset, exited the courtroom and told the rest of her family loudly, "Lie and you get through. Tell the truth and you get punished."

Voy said Friday that the incident was not sexually motivated but the result of "someone who felt they had the right to harm someone else as a rite of passage."

Starring had pleaded innocent to the charges, but Voy said admitting to the incident was a critical step toward moving on.

"Denial is a big issue," Voy said. He said Starring would be required to take a polygraph test before the court would determine what kind of counseling he will require.

"For this young man, I think it's an appropriate sentence," Deputy District Attorney Mary Brown said.

Brown said the victim wasn't at the sentencing because he was in school, but the victim's mother was present.

"It wasn't (the victim's family's) request that (Starring) goes to detention; that was my request as a prosecutor," Brown said. "Their request was just that he get treatment and get help."

Surveillance video footage in the Sierra Vista High School gym showed several Sierra Vista High School basketball players involved in three separate "dog piles" after a Feb. 3 basketball practice.

Prosecutors said the victim was assaulted in the second of the dog piles by Starring and at least one other student. Varsity basketball coach Ken Gibson said Starring described the incident as a "play rape."

The victim said that he was tackled by teammate Andre Fletcher and that at least four other players joined in, grabbing his arms and legs as he lay on his stomach.

During the dog pile, someone pulled down his shorts, the victim testified. He said Starring squeezed his genitals before sticking a finger in his rectum through his boxer shorts.

Brown said the state didn't plan to prosecute any other people involved in the incident.

Since the incident, the victim has transferred to Durango High School.