Lawyer downplays boys charged in sex assault case as ‘roughhousing’

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Attorneys for four Oklahoma teenagers accused in a sexual assault case involving a former high school football teammate say their clients were “roughhousing” and are not guilty as charged.
Tulsa lawyer Paul DeMuro said during a news conference Friday that the Bixby High School students charged with second-degree rape by instrumentation were taking part in “a culture of roughhousing that we may think got a little out of hand.”
Special prosecutor Matt Ballard filed charges Thursday. Three of the defendants are 17 years old and one is 16. Each faces up to 15 years in prison, if convicted.
Prosecutors say school leadership waited eight days to tell police after a 16-year-old boy said a teammate sexually assaulted him in September with a pool cue while others restrained him.