DULUTH, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on Oct. 1, 2021.
A former Proctor High School football player avoided jail time but will be required to register as a predatory offender for the next 10 years after being sentenced for carrying out a sexual assault on a former teammate.
The 18-year-old, who was 17 at the time of the assault, learned his fate during a hearing in Duluth on Monday, June 20. The case remained in juvenile court as a result of a May plea agreement, but if the defendant does not honor the terms of probation he faces four years in prison.
KARE 11 news partner KBJR reports that the teen apologized for the attack in court Monday, and listened as the victim's mother described how the incident impacted her son and family.
Court documents say the assault occurred after a practice outside the Proctor High School football locker room on Sept. 7, 2021. The victim was 15 years old, and witnesses say other people held him down during the abuse and kept him from running away.
The suspect said after the incident, "I did it... I bet you guys didn't think I was going to do it," according to court documents and KBJR. The incident was reported to Proctor Police a few days later, and investigators interviewed witnesses and gathered evidence for weeks before turning the case over to the St. Louis County Attorney's Office for a charging decision.
Proctor school district officials decided to cancel the remainder of the football schedule after details of the attack began emerging, and the head coach tendered his resignation from all district positions.
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