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will always be an Alyson Hanniganite
Location: In the dust of the archives
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Plattsmouth teen acquitted of sex assault
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PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. - Former varsity football player Jacob Schippert cried for several minutes and hugged his mother after a Cass County jury found him not guilty of first-degree sexual assault.
At 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, District Judge Randall Rehmeier read the verdict after a panel of eight men and four women had deliberated for an hour.
"I just don't think the state proved its case, and it didn't prove any intent," jury foreman Roger Sykes said afterward.
Last August, Cass County Attorney Nathan Cox charged Schippert, 17, with first-degree sexual assault in adult court. Initially, Plattsmouth police wrote Schippert, a senior, a misdemeanor citation for an Aug. 19 locker room incident at Plattsmouth High School.
The alleged victim, now 15, testified Tuesday that Schippert penetrated the boy's rectum with two fingers, one-fourth to one-half-inch through the boy's underwear. The boy also said Schippert exposed himself, simulated anal sex on him and grabbed his buttocks after football practice.
The felony charge required Cox to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that penetration occurred without consent.
Cox told the jury that it could instead find Schippert guilty of attempted sexual assault, but foreman Sykes said the jury did not take long to rule that out, either.
"There was some horseplay and some hazing, but not first-degree sexual assault," Sykes said.
Defense attorney Angela Slattery argued that sexual assault involving penetration cannot occur if two people are clothed. She said the freshman complained he was sexually assaulted because "his ego was hurt."
"He was subjected to unwanted behavior," Slattery said. "It was disgusting, it was untasteful, but not sexual assault."
Cox called five other freshman football players as his chief witnesses. Several contradicted their earlier statements to police, saying Wednesday that they never saw Schippert expose himself or use his hand to penetrate the boy's rectum.
One player, senior Rory Stone, testified for the defense that the freshman never cried during the minute-long incident.
"I saw two wrestlers wrestling at the freshman locker room," Stone said. "I saw what I saw. Two people horsing around, laughing the entire time. Nothing was going on."
Schippert testified on his own behalf Wednesday that he targeted the freshman for a "horseplay prank."
Schippert, who stands about 6-foot-3, said he grabbed the smaller boy by his neck, put another hand on his back to hold him down and simulated a sex act, but never stuck his hand inside the boy's pants or rectum.
Schippert testified that he had given the boy numerous rides home from summer wrestling camps that both attended in 2004.
"I thought he was my buddy; we were just messing around," Schippert said.
"You act out these anal intercourse incidents on other people?" Cox asked, on cross-examination.
"Yes," Schippert said. "Because it's funny, it's goofing off."
Aside from the alleged victim, Schippert said he had done the same thing numerous times to other athletes "because that's what buddies do."
Schippert said he was the recipient of the same behavior as a freshman.
Schippert was expelled after Cox filed felony criminal charges. He is being tutored by the district's staff and will graduate in May but cannot attend the graduation ceremony.
He and his parents declined to comment after they left the courthouse.
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This smells like last weeks tuna casserole. Well, the message has been sent. It's ok to stick your fingers into orafices, so long as it's through the undies, and you call it horseplay.
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Defense attorney Angela Slattery argued that sexual assault involving penetration cannot occur if two people are clothed.
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I'm thinking 5 minutes alone in a locked room would change her opinion.
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Cox called five other freshman football players as his chief witnesses. Several contradicted their earlier statements to police, saying Wednesday that they never saw Schippert expose himself or use his hand to penetrate the boy's rectum.
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Knowing what I know of Plattsmouth...this smacks of coercion to me. Awfully damn convenient.
__________________
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony
"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus
It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.
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