White football players allegedly raped disabled teammate in racially motivated attack
Several high school football players have been named in a lawsuit alleging that they raped a black and mentally disabled teammate as part of a longer period of hazing that appeared to be racially motivated.
Three teammates are named in the lawsuit. Two of them, 18-year-old John R.K. Howard and 17-year-old Tanner Ray Ward, have already been charged as adults with felony sexual penetration with a foreign object, though Ward had his charges moved to juvenile court as part of a plea bargain, and the third is being charged as a juvenile. In addition, several school officials are named in the suit for allegedly turning a blind eye to the abuse that Antwon McDaniel was suffering at the hands of his teammates.
According to the suit, McDaniel noted that during the summer of 2015, he was subjected to abuse while also being called such racially-motivated names as “ni**er,” Kool-Aid,” ” watermelon,” and “chicken eater.”
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According to the investigation, on October 22, McDaniel’s teammates allegedly gave him a “wedgie” that tore his boxers, and he was still wearing the boxers when the teammate who gave him the wedgie grabbed a coat hangar and abused him with it by allegedly inserting it into his rectum and kicking it.
The complaint goes on to say that McDaniel “has suffered and continues to suffer severe emotional distress including depression, fatigue, embarrassment, humiliation and other damages.”
