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White Football Players Accused Of Raping Disabled Black Teammate In Dietrich, Idaho

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 04:52 PST, May 31, 2016

A group of white football players in Dietrich, Idaho, have been accused of raping a mentally disabled black football player. The white adoptive parents of the young man who was allegedly sodomized with a coat hanger are suing the school district for $10 million.

Shelly McDaniel, the white adoptive mother of the mentally disabled black football player, claims three of his white teammates sexually assaulted him in the Dietrich School District locker room.

The three accused Idaho football players have been charged with felonies. Two of the white football players were charged as adults and the third faces the same felony rape charges in juvenile court, the Daily Mail reports.

The $10 million lawsuit filed against the Dietrich School District maintains the black football player thought one of his teammates wanted to give him a hug but instead held him down so two other players could rape him. The name of the juvenile defendant has not been released to the public.

The two white football players charged with sodomizing the black player with a coat hanger have been identified as Tanner Ward, 17, and John Howard, 18. Howard, who moved to Dietrich a year ago from Texas, is accused of being the ringleader in the alleged racist activity and rape. Ward relocated to the area from a larger city in Idaho.

According to a report by the Idaho Statesman, the McDaniel family includes 25 children and contains almost the entire “black population” in Dietrich.

The black teenager has reportedly been diagnosed with disorganized schizophrenia. He was adopted by Shelly McDaniel and her husband after he was exposed to both drugs and alcohol by his mother during pregnancy.

The Dietrich student was allegedly raped by the football players after McDaniel spent “months” voicing concerns about the alleged racial harassment all of her adopted children were forced to deal with at the Idaho school district. She claims Dietrich school officials failed to stop the alleged racism even though incidents reportedly happened in front of staff and football coaches. Her husband, Tim McDaniel, is a biology teacher at the school.

“I needed to know how to keep him safe, and we were just shunned,” Shelly McDaniel said during an interview with the Washington Post.

Shelly McDaniel said she was alerted about the racism by another adopted black son, Rasaan, who is the football team’s manager. The young man said some white football players were teasing his older brother. After the alleged sodomy victim came home from school with torn underwear after receiving a “wedgie,” McDaniel decided to speak with the Dietrich principal about the incident.

The principal reportedly told her to talk to football coach Michel Torgerson about the problems in the locker room.

Not long after the meeting, Rasaan told his mother about the coat hanger sodomy attack that allegedly occurred in the Dietrich locker room. Shelly McDaniel took her older son the hospital, where the sexual assault was confirmed. The police were then called.

The mentally disabled black football players also claimed some of his white teammates would “hump” him to simulate anal sex during football practice and was forced to sing a KKK song as the Confederate Flag was held up. The unidentified victims also maintain he was stripped naked on a school bus and was photographed by his teammates.

The majority of the people who live in Dietrich are reportedly Mormons who attend the same church in the rural town. Although the Dietrich School District is known for its championship basketball program, football is becoming an increasingly popular sport at the school due to a recent winning streak.

“In this town, it’s all about your name and how athletic you are,” McDaniel added.

McDaniel said another one of her adopted sons was called the “N-word” at the elementary school, and a daughter was called “Aunt Jemima” and told to “go back to Africa.” The $10 million lawsuit also contained a long list of racial slurs the McDaniel family says the adopted children were called while at a school.

Shelly and Tim McDaniel have lived in the Idaho town for more than two decades and have adopted 20 children.

[Image by Shutterstock.com]

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