Connecticut high school football players charged with sexually assaulting 13-year-old girl

 

TORRINGTON, Conn. –  Two members of the Torrington High School football team have been charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, who has been taunted on social media sites in recent weeks by dozens of classmates upset at the allegations.
The Register Citizen reports the two 18-year-old football players, Edgar Gonzalez and Joan Toribio, have been charged with felony second-degree sexual assault and other crimes in an investigation that began last month. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Details of the allegations have been sealed from public view.
The newspaper reports social media posts by classmates taunting the accuser have included vulgar language and have blamed her for ruining the players' lives.
The case mirrors one in Steubenville, Ohio, where two football players were convicted this week of raping a girl who was later threatened online.

 

 

Edgar Gonzalez, above, and Joan Toribio, both 18, have been charged with second-degree sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in Torrington, Conn.

Two high school football players in Connecticut have been charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, and the alleged victim has been bullied on Twitter by fellow teens calling her "a snitch" and "a wh---," according to a local report.
Torrington High School football players Edgar Gonzalez and Joan Toribio, both 18, were charged with sexual assault and other crimes stemming from an investigation that began in February, the local Register Citizen newspaper reported.
News of the case comes just three days after two high school football starts from Steubenville, Ohio, were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old West Virginia girl in August.
Two other teens — including a cousin of one of the Ohio football stars — were arrested Monday for sending death threats to the girl on Twitter.

 

Before he was charged with sexual assault, Gonzalez was facing felony robbery charges for allegedly jumping three 14-year-olds in March 2012.
He was allowed to play football this season, despite the charges.
Former football coach Coach Dan Dunaj told the Register Citizen that he was "doing something right" as a coach when he allowed Gonzalez to play.

Joan Toribio. Tweets from local teens accused the alleged victim of 'ruining' the players lives. 

"I reeled the kid in after that, and he walked the line," he said.
Dunaj resigned as head coach in January after several players on the team were suspended for hazing other players.
Details of the Connecticut case have been sealed from the public, though the investigation of both players began on Feb. 10, the newspaper reported.
Both football players pleaded not guilty.
According to the Register Citizen, teens in the northwest Connecticut town, about 50 minutes west of Hartford, have lashed out at the alleged victim on Twitter, calling her explicit names and accusing her of "ruining" Gonzalez and Toribio's lives.

In one tweet, a user wrote, "Even if it was all his fault, what was a 13-year-old doing hanging around with 18 year old guys..."

According to the local Register Citizen newspaper, the alleged victim has been bullied by other teens on Twitter since word of the investigation began to spread last month.

On Feb. 22, another user wrote, "I wanna know why there's no punishment for young h---s."
"I hope you got what you wanted," another user wrote in a tweet directed at the victim, according to the newspaper.
Torrington athletic director Mike McKenna told the Register that the criminal behavior and bullying wasn't widespread among athletes.
"If you look at crime statistics these things happen everywhere and we're not any different than any other community," he said.
Gonzalez was being held at the New Haven Correction Center and was due in court on April 2.
Toribio is out on bail and due in court on April 23.