Damascus High returns to football field, a year after sexual assault case consumed town

...All four of the adults were informed of the assaults on the night they occurred; Colbert spoke with Wallich, who passed information about the alleged assault to the athletic director and to Crouse, according to a group text message seen by The Washington Post. None called the police that night; The Post reported in March that school officials waited more than 12 hours to tell police about credible allegations that at least one player had been sexually assaulted with a broomstick.

Wallich declined to be interviewed for this story, writing in an email: “I’m not doing interviews with certain media including [The Post]. I lost respect for just about everyone during this media coverage last year. We have moved on and turned the page. I’m done discussing the past.”..

...There are some less convinced that the county has done enough to address the issues, and whether Wallich should still be the coach. WilmerHale, which has been investigating the school since April, is examining more than the 2018 incident and set out to review any other reports of sexual assault, bullying or hazing within the athletic department since 2017.

MCPS officials have not commented on the decision to retain Wallich. The county’s athletic director, Jeffrey Sullivan, declined to be interviewed.

“I know there have been calls for shutting down the whole program for a year, taking a break, wiping out all of the coaches and starting over,” said Janis Sartucci, an activist with the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County. “And I think that goes to the question we see in all of these institutions where this has been an issue: Can there be real change if the same decision-makers are left in place? That’s always the problem.”..

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/10/02/damascus-high-returns-football-field-year-after-sexual-assault-case-consumed-town/