Today's Most Popular Video
Nov 25, 2009 3:40 pm US/Central
Conn. College Teammates Face Sex Assault Charges
College Students Charged With Conspiracy To Commit Sexual Assault
Attorney Wayne Keeney Insists While What 3 Freshmen Are Accused Of Is Vile, It's Certainly Not A Crime
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (CBS) ―
-
-
Sacred Heart University lacrosse players Timothy Sanders, Nicholas Travers and Zachari Triner are accused of conspiracy to commit sexual assault.
CBS
An 18-year-old female student at a Sacred Heart University in Connecticut has levied shocking claims against three athletes, saying what started out as consensual sex turned criminal.
Police have arrested three college lacrosse players at the Catholic school, charging them with conspiring to sexually assault the alleged victim, CBS station WCBS-TV reported. All three players have been suspended from the school .
The woman told authorities that she was having consensual sex with her boyfriend, Timothy Sanders, when Sanders suddenly summoned his teammates 19-year-old Nicholas Travers of Smithtown, N.Y., and 18-year-old Zachari Triner of Marshfield, Mass., into the room. She told police that Travers and Triner raped her while Sanders held her down.
Bridgeport Police said the 18-year-old freshman screamed and struggled before Travers and Triner ran from the room.
Investigators said she reported the assault a few hours later.
Sanders' attorney said it was an alcohol-fueled joke -- not a crime.
"This young woman was unfairly humiliated by some college boy prank. This is not a sexual assault," Wayne Keeney said.
Triner told police he didn't touch the alleged victim at all and Travers has denied any involvement.
In Smithtown on Long Island, neighbors defended Travers and compared the case to the Hofstra and Duke rape hoaxes.
"Untrue," said Angela Amoroso, Travers' neighbor. "That is not what happened at all. Those kids are respectable kids, all of them, that whole family."
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)