Family of boy, 13, who was bound with duct tape and sodomized with a pencil on school wrestling trip is victimized by town after reporting crime



The teen was cornered on an empty school bus and attacked by three older students at a Denver wrestling meet in February 2012

His brother overheard the boys laughing about the attack and told his father, then the school principal in the town of Norwood, Colorado

The father said the school board urged him not to report the incident



The wrestling coach, who is the father of two of the attackers, reportedly told the victim's father 'this happens 1,000 times a day around the U.S.'

The accused - Talon and Hayden Harris and Timothy Armintrout - were charged with sexual contact without consent and pleaded guilty

Many in the 500-strong town rallied around the perpetrators and victimized the boy and his family for reporting the crime until they moved towns



They even made T-shirts supporting the three boys

A 13-year-old boy who was cornered on an empty school bus, bound with duct tape and sodomized with a pencil by three older students has been bullied so intensely by his community for reporting the crime that his family has had to move.

The incident, which occurred during a Norwood High School wrestling trip in Denver, Colorado in February 2012, was reported to police by the victim's father, then the K-12 principal and school football coach.

Charges were quickly filed against teens Hayden Harris, 14, and Talon Harris, 16, whose father, Robert Harris, was the school's wresting coach and president of the school board, and their friend, Timothy Armintrout, aged 15.

Charges: Charges were quickly filed against teens Hayden Harris, 14, pictured left, his brother Talon, 16, and their friend, Timothy Armintrout, 15, pictured right

The attackers later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, according to the Denver district attorney's office.

News spread quickly of the incident in the small ranching town of Norwood, which is located near the Telluride ski resort and has just 500 residents.

But instead of condemning the heinous act, many people in the community rallied around the three star wrestlers claiming the incident was a case of boys being boys.

The mother of one of the perpetrators even made T-shirts supporting the attackers, with the slogan 'Team TTH' - the boys' first initials.

Students, including the son of a Norwood High School teacher, wore them at the Norwood Schools' annual end-of-the-year barbeque in May 2012, until officials made them take them off.

Students also put 'Go to Hell' stickers on the victim's locker.

The victim's father, who was allegedly advised against reporting the assault to police by the school board and administrators, has since resigned as principal. He has taken another job paying half his previous salary in a town 200 miles away.

Pressure: The victim's father was pressured by the board of Norwood Hgh School, pictured, and administrators not to report the attack to police

Wrestling: The incident occurred when the Norwood High School wrestling team, pictured, traveled to Denver, Colorado in February 2012 for the state championships

He says the bullying from many in the community aimed at his family became too much.

'Nobody would help us,' he told Bloomberg News . 'We contacted everybody and nobody would help us.'

A spokeswoman for the Denver district attorney's office added: 'There was a huge backlash, and everybody turned against this boy and his family for bringing trouble to their town.'

However, s ome residents claim they chose not to take sides after news of the crime emerged and kept out of it.

The incident, which appeared to be an act of hazing, happened on February 16 last year when the Norwood High School wrestling team traveled to Denver to compete in the Colorado High School State Wrestling Championship.

According to CBS4, while the other wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament weighed in at Denver's Pepsi Center, the two ninth graders, the eighth grader and the victim, a seventh grader, were left unsupervised on a Norwood School bus.

The older boys then attacked the younger student, taping his hands and ankles and assaulted him with the pencil.

Washparkphrophet.com reported that the victim's brother heard the attackers laughing about the assault on his younger sibling and told his father.

T-shirts: The mother of Timothy Armintrout, pictured, reportedly made T-shirts supporting the boys

Small town: Hayden Harris' father Robert Harris was the wrestling coach and president of the school board

'I was shocked beyond belief, and I was mad,' the father told the news website of learning about the attack. 'I do believe I was madder than I have ever been. You're trying to protect your kids, and then something like this happens.'

He said that he immediately confronted Robert Harris, the wrestling coach, about the incident, who he says initially denied the attack then justified it by claiming 'this happens 1,000 times a day around the U.S.'

According to CBS4, school officials discussed the possibility of including the victim in the one-day, in-school suspension handed down to his alleged assailants soon after the incident occurred. That was the only punishment the school dealt.

One of the students pleaded guilty to sexual contact without consent and the other two pleaded guilty to third degree assault, Bloomberg reported. They were handed down varied sentences that included probation, community service and restitution of about $2,500 each.

Robert Harris was reappointed as the school's wrestling coach and was given a letter of reprimand for leaving students unattended on a school bus, it was reported. However, he has since resigned from the role.