Criminal charges filed against a Sierra Vista High School student Wednesday accuse him of sexually assaulting a younger basketball player during last month's hazing incident at the school.
Daman Starring, 17, faces one count of sexual assault and two counts of open and gross lewdness in Clark County's juvenile justice system in connection with the Feb. 3 incident.
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Reached at home Wednesday, Starring's family declined to comment.
A sexual assault charge in the adult criminal justice system can result in a life sentence in prison, but it's more likely Starring will encounter far more lenient treatment if a juvenile judge finds he committed the crimes.
Starring has been asked through his attorney to turn himself in for booking at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center. He's expected to make his first appearance in juvenile court this morning.
Formerly a guard for the Mountain Lions' varsity basketball squad, the 6-foot-2 junior sat out the final two games of the season, following his suspension shortly after the incident at the southwest valley school.
Police reports and district attorney's office documents detailing the allegations against him are not public, because Starring has not been charged as an adult.
But a source told the Review-Journal the sex assault count stems from allegations that Starring penetrated a 15-year-old player's rectum with his finger while the boy was being held down by fellow players during a brief "horseplay" episode in the school's gymnasium.
The open and gross lewdness counts arise from accusations that Starring groped the 15-year-old's buttocks and testicles, the source said.
Although a school camera captured video images of the players holding down the 15-year-old, nothing illegal can be seen on the tape and no other players are expected to be charged in the case, law enforcement sources said.
The other players who jumped the 15-year-old and took him to the gym floor did not witness the sex acts, the sources said.
"This was a dog pile involving a number of kids who didn't know what one of them was doing," said one of the sources, who called the other players' actions "lighthearted horseplay."
Yet those five other players also have been suspended from school pending expulsion.
At least one of the suspended players, Sierra Vista senior Kenneth Reynard, has chosen to enroll in a behavior school in order to graduate this year, according to Reynard's attorney Jason Weiner.
Weiner said Clark County School District officials should heed local law enforcement officials' findings when deciding if any students deserved to be punished at the school level.
"It would certainly be nice if the school district relied on the district attorney's and Metro's determination of who was at fault here," Weiner said. "I know that is not their (the school district's) policy. They generally make their own decisions."
Edward Goldman, associate superintendent of the district's Education Services Division, said just because the other students were cleared of criminal charges does not necessarily mean they did not violate district policy.
"Students need to know that just because they have no criminal issues hanging over their heads they still need to explain what occurred," Goldman said. "Obviously, something occurred, and it involved more than one kid."
Goldman, speaking in general terms, said when a criminal matter involves students, the students usually do not speak with district officials until the matter has been resolved legally, because of the fear of incriminating themselves.
"As a result of potential criminal prosecution, we were unable to get direct statements from students pertaining to their version of the events," he said.
Weiner said still video shots of the incident show Reynard was not involved in the attack and those players who did take down the victim almost did the same to his client.
"The video made it fairly clear that my client and several other kids are standing around," Weiner said. "He never laid a hand on him."
Although a sexual assault conviction in the adult criminal justice system can carry a life prison sentence, treatment for juveniles is more lenient and handled differently in the court system.
An underage criminal suspect is referred to as a "subject minor," rather than a defendant, and his case is decided by a juvenile judge rather than a jury.
If he pleads guilty, he is determined to be delinquent and is sentenced by the judge.
If he pleads not guilty, the juvenile is tried in a proceeding much like adult court, but without a jury.
A judge decides whether evidence presented at the trial is sufficient to find him delinquent. If the juvenile is found delinquent, he ultimately will be required to register as a sex offender.
Sentences for teenagers found delinquent in the juvenile system for serious crimes typically result in detention at Spring Mountain Youth Camp on Mount Charleston or a state facility in Elko.
