Cooperstown hazing case arraignments postponed

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February 9, 2012

BY JOE MAHONEY Staff Writer The Daily Star Thu Feb 09, 2012, 02:30 AM EST

HARTWICK -- Two of the five Cooperstown High School football players charged with harassing a teammate by giving him "the tunnel treatment" appeared in town court Wednesday as the alleged victim's father sat in the courtroom.

The scheduled arraignments were postponed until April 11 by Hartwick Town Court Justice Mary Folts, now presiding over the case after two Otsego town court justices recused themselves.

The two 17-year-olds who came to court, Boone Rose and Derek Liner, were accompanied by family members and their respective attorneys, Les Sittler and Monica Carrascoso.

Carrascoso declined to speak to reporters, while Sittler said of Rose, "He's not guilty."

The three other team members charged in the case are identified in court papers as Jeffrey Flynn, 18; Ethan Telfer, 17; and Michael Bouton, 17.

According to an affidavit investigators took from alleged victim John Brown, he said he was swarmed by five youths who yanked off his pants in a tunnel between the high school practice field and the locker room. Brown, enrolled in Laurens Central School though he plays for the Cooperstown team, also alleged that one of the teammates placed his rear end and testicles near his face while he was pinned to the ground.

Brown said he had his eyes closed and could not see the person who got close to him in that fashion.

A witness, Jeremy Folds, 18, told authorities he first thought that Flynn had close contact with Brown, although he noted he now believes that it was Rose who put his backside near the alleged victim's face.

The five are facing charges of second-degree harassment. Under the state Penal Law, it is considered a non-criminal offense.

Charles Brown, 45, father of the alleged victim, said he was disappointed that the case is "dragging on and on." The Otsego County Sheriff's Department filed the charges in December, and the youths have not yet been formally arraigned, he noted.

As for John Brown, the father said: "He still has trouble getting dressed for gym. Most times he wears his gym trunks under his jeans. He won't change in the locker room."

In a related development, Cooperstown Central School Superintendent C.J. Hebert, without naming names, said the students "involved in the hazing incident during the fall semester have been appropriately disciplined in accordance with the district's code of conduct."

He added: "While the district is responsible for maintaining the involved students' privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as of this time all penalties associated with the incident have been levied and completed. Any action that might result from the legal system is separate and distinct from the district's response and will in no way result in additional punishment from the school."

Also at the town court was Kathy Pacherille, mother of Anthony Pacherille Jr., the former Cooperstown High student now imprisoned for the 2010 shooting of classmate Wesley Lippitt.

She has maintained her son was the victim of bullying at the high school and lashed back by shooting Lippitt before shooting himself. Both youths recovered from their gunshot wounds.

"I'm here for Anthony," she said.