this the guy you are talking about?
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Guilty pleas in sexual assault case
Ex-Winchendon students admit to reduced charges
By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS/607260381/1116WORCESTER— Two former Winchendon School basketball players charged with the statutory rape of a 15-year-old female schoolmate pleaded guilty yesterday to reduced charges.
Tyree Evans, 21, of Richmond, Va., was placed on probation for two years after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to assault and battery. The charge was amended from indecent assault and battery under a plea agreement in the case. A statutory rape charge against Mr. Evans was dismissed at the request of Assistant District Attorney Anthony J. Marotta.
The sentence imposed by Judge John S. McCann was recommended by Mr. Marotta and Mr. Evans’ lawyer, Edward P. Ryan Jr. As a condition of probation, Mr. Evans was ordered to have no contact with the victim. The assault to which he pleaded guilty occurred on Oct. 11, 2004, at the private school, according to Mr. Marotta.
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Ramone Wellington, 19, of Pittsburg, Calif., pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery yesterday under a plea agreement that will result in a recommendation that he be sentenced to time served and placed on probation, according to his lawyer, Michael S. Hussey. The charge to which he pleaded guilty was reduced from statutory rape.
Mr. Wellington’s sentencing was postponed until today so that arrangements could be made to transfer the supervision of his two years of probation to California.
Mr. Marotta told Judge McCann that if the cases had gone to trial, there would have been testimony that Mr. Evans touched the victim without her consent and that Mr. Wellington touched her in an indecent manner without her consent. The prosecutor said the girl was intoxicated at the time and legally incapable of consenting or resisting.
Mr. Marotta said the victim and her family agreed with the proposed dispositions of the cases.
Mr. Evans, described by Mr. Ryan yesterday as an “outstanding basketball prospect,” will attend Butler Community College in Kansas on a basketball scholarship, the lawyer said. Mr. Evans reportedly lost a scholarship offer from the University of Cincinnati while the charges were pending against him; he was recruited at one time by Kansas State University.
In urging Judge McCann to adopt the recommended sentence yesterday, Mr. Ryan said that Mr. Evans, who was raised by his mother in a public housing project, was spending his summer as a volunteer basketball coach for disadvantaged youths.
Mr. Evans and Mr. Wellington were among five former Winchendon School students charged in connection with the sexual assault. One of their co-defendants pleaded guilty earlier to a reduced charge. Charges against another were dismissed and the remaining defendant has been found in default in Winchendon District Court on a charge of dissemination of child pornography.
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K-State athletic director Tim Weiser confirmed the information.
"We have made a decision to no longer recruit Tyree Evans," he said.
Less than two months ago, when it was reported K-State would admit Evans if he was cleared, Weiser defended his school's involvement.
"If we were afraid of public criticism, we wouldn't have hired Bob Huggins," Weiser told The Eagle on May 18. "I don't think we'd back away from giving a young man or woman a chance if we knew whatever they were involved with before wouldn't be an issue under our care at K-State."
But after an extensive background check recently, the administration wasn't as comfortable as it was before.
"After considering all of the info, he wasn't the 'fit,' " said Weiser, who refused to cite specifics. "He wasn't someone I was willing to take a risk on. In this case, there were enough other issues.
"Bob (Huggins) is on the same page."
