Weare News : court

Weare assault gets national exposure

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:08:00 GMT

BY GRETA CUYLER

The New Hampshire high school student arrested after having sex with his girlfriend says he never knew he was breaking the law.

“I didn’t know there was a certain age you had to be to have sex,” said 18-year-old Damon Hadley of Henniker. “I thought if I told the truth, it’d all just go away.”

Hadley is set to tell his story on national television in an upcoming edition of ABC-TV’s “20/20” news show, according to his family and attorney. A spokesman for the show said it may air in March.

Hadley said he didn’t know he had committed a crime when he slept with his 15-and-a-half-year- old girlfriend last fall.

But he had.

And following what he said was his first sexual experience on Sept. 10, Hadley was charged with sexual assault and beaten by the girl’s father after she falsely claimed Hadley raped her.

Although she later admitted to police she lied about the rape allegation, Hadley had already admitted to a crime because, under state law, a person cannot consent to sex until the age of 16.

“When the (police) detective came to collect the bed sheets, Damon said ‘I knew the first time would be memorable, but I didn’t know it would be that memorable,’” said Lisa Hadley, Damon’s mother.

According to the Weare police prosecutor, the girl’s parents pushed for Hadley’s prosecution.

Last month in a plea deal, Damon Hadley pleaded guilty to simple assault, ending the legal case against him. The girl’s father – Gilberto Soto, 38, of Weare -- has also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault.

“I didn’t learn about (these laws) until this all took place,” said Lisa Hadley. “I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this.”

Damon Hadley said he agreed to the ABC television interview so people would hear his side of the story.

It started on Monday, Sept. 10. Hadley said he was taking a friend to get his driver’s license.

On the way, they picked up his girlfriend at school and later the two went back to Hadley’s house and had sex, he said.

Trouble began when Hadley and the girl tried to sneak back into school later that day. He said officials knew the girl had skipped school and the two students were separated and questioned.

Hadley said he was later told to return to class.

When he left school that afternoon, he saw his girlfriend’s father and brother waiting in a car. Hadley said the two jumped out and ran toward him.

“I didn’t move at all, I just froze,” Hadley said. “I didn’t know what to do. Her dad hit me. I was on the ground, I just remember him standing on top of me and hitting me.”

“He kept saying, ‘Did you (have sex with) my daughter?’” Hadley said as Soto hit him, the man’s son stood behind him watching. Hadley’s mouth filled with blood.

As other students left the building, some kept walking, others stopped to stare. Eventually, one of Hadley’s friends came and took him to the nurse’s office while the school resource officer pulled Soto away.

Hadley was later treated at the hospital for cuts and bruises and received two stitches to his face.

When Hadley went to the police station the next day to document his injuries, he learned the girl he’d been dating since June - the one he’d professed his love to - had accused him of rape.

The couple had been seeing each other in secret, he said, because her parents didn’t allow her to date.

After Soto and Hadley both pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault, Soto was sentenced to 12 months in jail and Hadley to three months. Both sentences were suspended on condition of good behavior. Hadley said he’s not mad at his former girlfriend.

“There were parts when I was mad at her about the whole thing - why is she doing this, why is this happening to me,” Hadley said, then paused. “I don’t think I’m mad at her anymore. I hope she has a good life.”

He’s moved on, is dating someone new and supports his mother’s efforts to lobby both the state Legislature and local school boards.

Lisa Hadley wants schools to explain to students the laws regarding sex among minors.

She supports inviting police and lawyers into high schools to explain the consequences of engaging in underage sex.

“The work Lisa is doing and Damon is assisting her with, to educate the public, especially young people, is crucially important,” said Hadley’s lawyer, George Campbell, a Concord attorney with Robert Stein and Associates. “If the law is important enough to be enforced, it’s important enough that people be educated to not commit the act that’s been criminalized.”

Hadley will graduate from high school in the spring. He plans to take a year off and then pursue a degree in motorcycle mechanics at a technical college.

In court – Man, student face charges after Weare school assault

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:51:00 GMT

BY MICHELLE KIM

The man who attacked the 17-year-old boyfriend of his 15-year-old daughter after learning the two had sex was arraigned and charged with a simple assault, Class B felony, in Goffstown District Court Tuesday, Oct. 16. The boyfriend was charged as an adult with a Class A misdemeanor on Oct. 9, according to Weare police.

The 38-year-old Weare man appeared in court with his wife and son but had no legal representation.

Answering the judge in soft, single word answers, he responded that he understood the terms.

Because he faced a felony charge, no plea was taken. A simple assault, Class B felony carries a maximum charge of 3.5 to 5 years in prison and $4,000 in fines. The man posted a personal recognizance bail of $500, which required him to have no contact with the daughter’s boyfriend, who lives in Henniker.

When asked by a reporter whether he would handle the situation in the same way again, given the chance, the father replied “No comment.”

The 17-year-old, a student at John Stark Regional High School, was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bail, according to Weare police.

As a 17-year-old in a criminal case, he is automatically treated as an adult, said Detective Lou Chatel, and is charged with a misdemeanor in accordance with state law because he is less than three years older than the girl.

Also by state law, consent cannot be given below the age of 16.

If convicted, the teen could face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. He would not need to register as a sex offender but he would be required to list the misdemeanor on school and job applications for three years, after which he could petition the court to have it removed from his record, said Chatel.

The teen and his girlfriend admitted to leaving school the morning of Sept. 10 and having sex at a parent’s house. School officials noticed the girl’s absence and notified her parents after she failed to respond to a school-wide page. His mother also told police the two may have gone to his Weare residence, according to court documents. The students later returned to school through separate entrances.

The mother of the girl told police around 1 p.m. she wanted to file a report that her daughter had been raped and was advised to take her daughter for a medical examination and to return to the station for an interview.

At approximately 2:50 p.m., the girl’s father called police to inquire about the case. Ten minutes later, he assaulted the 17-year-old in the parking lot of the school as he was picking up his other children. The boyfriend suffered bruises and cuts that required two stitches to his face. The father was arrested without struggle and charged with simple assault Class B felony because of the extent of the injuries, said Chatel.

The teen had permission to leave school grounds, but the girl did not and she was given an in-school Saturday suspension for her unexcused absence. After the incident, she and her siblings transferred to another school.

A restraining order was taken out in the daughter’s name against the teen on Sept 21.

The couple had known each other since last June and had been seeing each other covertly because her parents did not allow her to date, according to the affidavit filed with court documents.

Prosecutor Lt. Mark Bodanza said the Weare Police Department had seen quite a few sexual assault investigations this year, where parents discovered teen couples had had sex. “But not to the extent where the father attacked the boy,” Bodanza said.

“The key here is that, although disturbing to the parent, they can’t take the law into their own hands,” said Chatel. “It just further traumatized the family.”

The teen is scheduled to go to trial Nov. 27 in Goffstown District Court.

The father is due to appear for a probable cause hearing Nov. 6 in Goffstown District Court.