It was supposed to be a team building retreat. Instead, prosecutors allege something far more heinous happened at a sports camp in Western Massachusetts.
Now, three Somerville high school juniors are facing multiple rape charges. The three are accused of sexually assaulting a freshman boy with a broomstick. Two other freshmen students were said to have fought off the attack. Among the teenagers being charged is 17-year-old Galileo Mondol who was arraigned Tuesday as an adult in Pittsfield District Court, where he pled not guilty. He’s being kept in jail pending a dangerousness hearing that’s scheduled for Friday. Mondol’s two co-defendants are both 16 and will be arraigned in Berkshire Juvenile Court.
All three and their accusers are members of Somerville High School’s soccer team. They were part of an annual sports retreat that the school holds at Camp Lenox in Otis. In response, Somerville is launching a student travel safety committee that will study existing policies and make recommendations for changes.
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, who is a volunteer football coach at the camp and was on the retreat when the sexual assault allegedly happened, joined Greater Boston to discuss the case and how Somerville is reacting.
