Torrance Teen Claims He Was Sexually Assaulted By Members Of JROTC
TORRANCE (CBSLA.com) — A Torrance teen claims he was sexually assaulted by fellow members of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps three years ago.
Joey Wall said during a week-long JROTC trip to Camp Pendleton in Aug. 2010, he was assaulted with a flashlight by three cadets, who all attended North High School in Torrance, when he stepped out of the shower in his boxers.
"They kinda ambushed me," he said. "They grabbed me by the arms, partially by the leg and pinned me."
Wall's stepfather, Ricardo Rodriguez, informed the program's instructor about the alleged situation, but said after a brief investigation, the teacher neglected to report the case to the police or his superiors at the Torrance Unified School District.
Wall said he was also often bullied by other cadets before the Camp Pendleton trip and told the instructor about those incidents, as well.
"He said, 'What happened in JROTC, stays in JROTC,' " said Wall.
Rodriguez said the other boys were never disciplined, but Wall was kicked out of the program about a year later.
"They didn't remove him until after Joey obtained an attorney. Until Joey's attorney filed a civil suit against the school district," said Rodriguez.
Wall's stepfather said the $100,000 suit against Torrance Unified is to cover the cost of the teen's therapy.
"When he was a victim of the hazing incident, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder," said Rodriguez, who also said Wall had to be home-schooled.
"He hated and could not trust being around people because he didn't know who he could trust outside of the world," he said.
CBS2's Jeff Nguyen reported that the Torrance Police Department investigated Wall's allegations in 2010, but surrendered the case to the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which isn't commenting on the accusations because it involves a juvenile.
The school district also hasn't commented because of the pending lawsuit.
