In August, teenager Nick Vincenzo was jumped, robbed and beaten by three young men and a juvenile in North Ridgeville, OH.
Police arrested the four and charged them each with felonious assault. According to Jon Vincenzo, Nick's father, "They broke the bone on his face. Took his clothes and shoes and left him in the street in his underwear and socks."
The juvenile involved in the beating, who is 17 years old, continues to play in Clearview High School football games as part of the team — a fact that leaves Vincenzo asking one question: "Why is he playing football when he didn't follow your code of conduct?"
Superintendent of Clearview Local Schools, Jerome M. Davis, issued the following statement:
While we understand that the family and friends are upset with what happened, the administration of the Clearview Local Schools followed the code of conduct. When we became aware of the situation, we investigated and discipline was rendered as per our extracurricular code of conduct. As in a lot of cases, someone is usually not happy with the outcome. That part is out of our control. It is our intention to follow the rules and regulations/code of conduct to the best of our ability. We feel badly for what happened and none of us would want it to happen to our child or children. As a school district, we followed our code of conduct and disciplined accordingly. Our administrators are constantly monitoring the situation, realizing that further involvement could lead to further consequences. We've dealt with it on our end. Now we must allow the courts do their job.
Clearview's Code of Conduct states that any student athlete can be suspended from play for "unacceptable conduct in or out of school."
The juvenile, who's name has not been made public, wrote an apology letter to Nick after he was arrested — and has a court date set for November 10 — but Jon Vincenzo fully expects that he'll continue to play football.
However, the next Clearview Local Schools board meeting is Monday, October 13, and Vincenzo will surely be there fighting for his son.
{module High School Bullying}
