Sweetser Law Office

Sweetser, who represents two of the Black students and the white student, told Atlanta Black Star that Mead school officials have “left these boys who experienced sexual assault to cope on their own without the supports that should have been in place for them” for more than a year now, “which makes their ongoing process of coping complicated. They could be required to testify. They’ve already been traumatized, humiliated and betrayed.”

Of his clients, he said, “One day they were just wanting to be part of a team, play sports, have a normal childhood,” and now “their high school experience has been thrown into total chaos. And for these boys to see some of the statements by the school district in an attempt to … 'cover their ass' by downplaying this incident as ‘horseplay’ or ‘boys being boys’ … it’s an ongoing betrayal. It’s a violation of their hope and trust that the adults in charge of school-sponsored programs, that they just want to participate in as kids, will do the right thing and follow the law. That’s been shattered, for them and their families.”

‘Traumatized, Humiliated and Betrayed’: Black Football Players Were Held Down And Sexually Assaulted By White Teammates with a Massage Gun, Which Spokane High School Dismissed as 'Horseplay,' Lawsuit Claims White football players at a high school in Spokane, Washington targeted their Black teammates for racial harassment and sexual assaults that were