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Editor's Note: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
The parents of a 15-year-old who was allegedly sexually assaulted on multiple occasions at Central Catholic High School say the school’s response is “too little, too late.”
In late April, the Garcia family reported that their son was physically and sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by teammates on the soccer team at the prestigious boys school.
Wednesday evening, Central Catholic released a statement saying they had investigated and disciplined five students, including two students who were forced to withdraw from the school.
The school also said they would engage a third party to conduct an independent investigation of Central Catholic and its staff, and shared a link to make anonymous reports online.
The Garcias and their attorney Jesse Guerra say both the punishments, and the steps to further investigate, don’t go far enough.
“I'm extremely heartbroken. We're all shaken up. The devastation that this school and its system have inflicted on my baby has left us just where … it feels like we're drowning,” said Christina Garcia, the 15-year-old’s mother.
According to Central Catholic, administrators forced two students to withdraw and disciplined three others after the Garcias’ son told his coach what had happened to him.
But Guerra questions if withdrawals will show up on students’ records as expulsions, and Garcia said she saw a video of one of her son’s main perpetrators walk across the graduation stage.
“I just I can't see how [with] the charges that we are making against him, he was able to walk the stage,” Garcia said.
According to Guerra and Garcia, the student who was allowed to graduate is the son of a prominent member of the Central Catholic community.
“The evidence will show in this case that there is a lot of nepotism that's incestuous at Central,” Guerra said. “Everything is tied. And that's why my client says Central Catholic needs a clean sweep from the board to the administration to new coaches, to losing the soccer program for two years.”
In a statement, Central Catholic’s president and board said late Thursday that their “decisions were made without delay, without preferential treatment and without hesitation.”
Both the San Antonio Police Department and the Round Rock Police Department confirmed they are investigating reports of assault filed by the Garcias in April.
Most notably, they reported that their son was held down while a teammate placed his erect penis on their son’s face, and that their son woke up to a teammate’s penis on his face while in Round Rock for the soccer team’s state championship.
“It's more than bullying, it's more than pranks, it's more than verbal abuse, mental abuse. I mean, this is hazing to another level, and the only way we could describe it as hazing on steroids, where these kids, for years, have been acting like this, so it's just gotten progressively worse,” Christina Garcia said.
Since the San Antonio Express News first reported the alleged assaults May 28, Guerra said he’s received calls almost daily from people with similar stories happening on the lacrosse team, at band, and at JROTC. He said he’s been retained by another family, and he may soon be retained by more.
“When I've talked to these witnesses who've come forward, their stories have been that every time they went to the staff that Central was trying to show mercy and try to talk these people who came forward courageously into not doing anything,” Guerra said. “The problem at Central Catholic is cancer at its worst.”
