Early this year, four Norman North High School wrestlers were accused of sexually assaulting two teammates on a bus as the junior varsity team returned from a tournament in Pauls Valley.
According to reports, the four teenagers, aged 16, 17, and 18, held down two teammates, aged 12 and 16, and assaulted them by digitally penetrating the boy over their clothing. Reports say the assaults were discovered after three of the four accused teens again tried to assault the 12-year-old before being discovered by the younger boy's parents.
But even at the time of their arrests, the teens denied that their acts were sexually motivated, saying instead that they were using a common wrestling technique called "butt-dragging," "oil-checking," or "goosing." The act, they said, was not a sexual assault, but rather horseplay.
The teens' coaches say they neither condone the move nor taught it to their wrestlers.
Since the allegations, three of the teens have been charged as youthful offenders with rape by instrumentation. The fourth teen, who is 18, has been charged as an adult with rape by instrumentation. First degree rape by instrumentation is punishable by five years to life in prison.
Now, a psychologist has evaluated three of the four accused teenagers and agrees that the assaults were not sexually motivated, and that the teens even believe that they were simply carrying out "tradition" by "initiating" younger wrestlers with the move.
The 18-year-old, who is charged as an adult, adamantly denied raping his teammates, telling the psychologist, "Maybe you can call it assault or maybe hazing, but it wasn't rape."
The fourth wrestler, who was evaluated by another worker, was allegedly "initiated" in the same way, and did not realize that his actions could be construed as criminal or sexual in nature. A youthful offender study of the 17-year-old states, "This worker believes that due to this generational event, [he] did not view the actions that were being done before him as an alleged offense, but rather as a part of the group integration."
Certainly, this move is one that is ingrained in wrestlers, whether through the instruction of their coaches or through "tradition," being passed down from older teammates as a right of passage or a maneuver on the mat. High school wrestlers across the nation are being charged with sex crimes as a result of "oil-checking" their opponents or teammates. Certainly, sexual assault cannot be condoned, even in the name of horseplay, tradition, or hazing.
Are criminal charges appropriate in these cases? Are sex crime charges appropriate for crimes that are not sexually motivated? How do you think these cases should be handled?
