The Washington Post - 06.09.2019

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE B5

ally obliged to play at FedEx Field

until September 2027.

O’Dell said razing RFK could

take up to a year after a contrac-

tor is selected, with demolition

mostly completed by fall 2021.

The agency has not yet decided

whether it will auction off seats or

other parts of the stadium.

“At an appropriate time, we’re

going to celebrate this building

and honor its legacy,” O’Dell said.

[email protected]

a great way to honor the legacy of

Robert Kennedy.”

Jimmy Lynn, an adjunct pro-

fessor of sports marketing at

Georgetown University, said de-

molishing the stadium now

would make it easier eventually

for the Redskins to build a new

one there, but he doubted an

agreement was in place.

“I can’t imagine they have a

deal this far out,” Lynn said,

noting that the team is contractu-

Falcicchio. “There’s no substan-

tive conversations, and there are

no negotiations underway.”

Demolishing the stadium will

show Congress that the District is

serious about reimagining the

RFK site, Falcicchio said.

“There’s an opportunity there

for mixed-used development,

with a large portion being hous-

ing,” Falcicchio said. “Especially if

it were workforce housing and

affordable housing, that would be

Speculation about the District

reaching a stadium deal with the

Redskins surged in August 2018

when Bowser told the team’s an-

nual Welcome Home Luncheon,

“We think all of our professional

sports teams should be in our city

limits.”

But Falcicchio said the city and

the team have had no significant

talks since then.

“Since that point, there hasn’t

been anything of substance,” said

Instead, the city is moving

ahead with short-term plans for

the site, which is valuable both

for its waterfront location, near-

by Metro station and proximity to

downtown.

Events DC opened three multi-

purpose turf fields in June to host

recreational soccer leagues, kick-

ball teams and school groups,

among other events. The next

steps are to build an indoor

sports complex, a market for din-

ing, pedestrian bridges across the

Anacostia, and a memorial to

Robert F. Kennedy, younger

brother of President John F. Ken-

nedy.

Originally named District of

Columbia Stadium, the facility

was renamed in 1969 following

Robert Kennedy’s assassination.

Kennedy’s granddaughter,

Maeve Kennedy McKean, lives on

Capitol Hill a mile from the sta-

dium. She said she was pleased

about the planned memorial and

does not regret losing the facility.

“I have wonderful memories of

going to the stadium [for football

games], but that was a long time

ago, and things change,” McKean

said. “It’s time for something new,

and for something that gives back

to the community.”

News of the demolition

spurred longtime residents to

reminisce.

John Innocenti of Springfield

recalled helping to build the sta-

dium while working as a carpen-

ters’ helper when he was in high

school. “It was very cool when I

was later able to attend baseball

and football games there,” Inno-

centi said. “My dad was a D.C.

police detective, so most of the

time I went with him and he got

us in free by waving his badge.”

the entire 190-acre RFK Stadium
site to the District, but that legis-
lation has not progressed.
A return by the Redskins
would be controversial; some
members of Congress and the
D.C. Council object to the team’s
name, while others are concerned
by the prospect that tax dollars
could help fund the project.
“I’m glad to see it’s going to
come down — I just want to make
sure it doesn’t go back up,” said
D.C. Council member Charles Al-
len (D-Ward 6), whose district
borders the RFK site. He wants it
converted into housing and green
space.
“This is a place where we need
to extend our city, not build a
stadium for a billionaire,” Allen
said.
The team could seek to build a
new stadium in Northern Vir-
ginia or the Maryland suburbs,
but those prospects appear to
have dimmed. Virginia Gov.
Ralph Northam (D) is cool to the
idea, and Maryland Gov. Larry
Hogan (R) said in February that
he was dropping an effort to
persuade the team to build its
next stadium adjacent to MGM
National Harbor in Prince
George’s.
O’Dell said that a new profes-
sional football stadium was one
of three possible long-term uses
— along with an indoor sports
arena or green space — but that
the city is not currently looking at
those alternatives.
“We are not working on any of
those long-term options right
now, nor have we talked to the
Redskins about that or any of this
demolition effort,” O’Dell said.

STADIUM FROM B1

D.C. pushes back

on Redskins talk

JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST

The District announced Thursday a plan to raze the dilapidated RFK Stadium by 2021, a move officials say is motivated by cost-cutting and

not advancing plans for the Redskins to build a new football stadium in its place. The stadium was home to the team during its glory years.

BY DAN MORSE

AND DONNA ST. GEORGE

The four Maryland teenagers
indicted last fall in a locker-room
sex assault case at Damascus
High School have pleaded to be-
ing involved in the attacks, ac-
cording to juvenile court hear-
ings held largely behind closed
doors in Montgomery County.
The final defendant in the
case, now 16, was in court
Wednesday for a sentencing hear-
ing that lasted more than six
hours.
Because the juvenile hearings
have not been opened for the full
proceedings, it is not clear wheth-
er the fourth defendant faces
further deliberations.
It is not known what charges

the teen pleaded to and what

punishment or rehabilitation

recommendation each of the de-

fendants received from Circuit

Judge Mary Beth McCormick.

All of the teens, as of Wednes-

day, remained students in the

county school system but were

not attending Damascus or other

standard high schools, according

to schools spokesman Derek Tur-

ner.

The attacks by junior varsity

players on other team members

on Oct. 31 involved a broomstick

and shocked the football-proud

community of Damascus.

In the aftermath, the school

system made several personnel

changes at Damascus and

launched a broader investigation

by a law firm hired by the district

to review school officials’ re-

sponses after a parent told a

coach about his son’s account of

an attack.

Among early findings, the

school system said the locker

room was unsupervised for a

25-minute window during which

the assaults were said to have

taken place.

The suspects and victims were

all 14 or 15 years old at the time of

the incident.

In November, four of the teens

were indicted, as adults, with one

count each of first-degree rape

and three counts of attempted

first-degree rape. “The defen-

dants’ conduct,” Montgomery

County Deputy State’s Attorney

Peter Feeney said at the time,

“was astonishingly cruel.”

The teens’ attorneys success-

fully argued to have their cases

moved to the juvenile system,

citing their ages and their poten-

tial to reset their paths before

becoming adults.

Maryland court rules allow a

judge to use discretion to exclude

the public from proceedings in-

volving juveniles who have not

been charged as adults. Records

in juvenile court are sealed.

The Washington Post asked the

court in writing before the hear-

ings to have the proceedings open

and attended each hearing to

make the request again. The Post

was denied access after prosecu-

tors, defense attorneys or both

asked the judge to clear the

courtroom of anyone not directly

involved in each case.

The Post was able to stay long

enough at the start of the hear-

ings as cases were called to con-

firm that they involved pleas or

sentencings, which are known as

“dispositions” in juvenile court.

The Post also learned at a June

hearing that one teen pleaded to

second-degree rape and attempt-

ed second-degree rape counts.

In Wednesday’s case, the re-

quest was made by Assistant

State’s Attorney Carlotta Wood-

ward, who said closing the hear-

ing would be appropriate given

her intent to candidly discuss

how the teen victims were affect-

ed by the attacks.

Defense attorney Daniel

Wright objected and argued for

keeping the hearing open. Wright

noted the case had been widely

covered and continued to draw

public interest and that reporters

should hear information directly.

“I’d rather they be accurate in-

stead of speculative,” Wright said.

McCormick, echoing com-

ments she’d made at previous

hearings, said she believed pro-

tecting the victims’ and the sus-

pects’ privacy outweighed the

public’s access.

“I think it’s in the best interests

of the parties involved,” McCor-

mick said before clearing her

courtroom.

Among those remaining in

court were one of the victims and

his parents, and the parents of

two other victims.

The 16-year-old suspect was

present, as were two members of

his family and a psychologist who

has worked with the teen.

The hearing began at about

10 a.m. and lasted until just

before 6 p.m., with several

breaks. The suspect, his support-

ers and Wright exited the court-

house afterward.

Wright declined to comment,

as did prosecutors.

Juvenile court records are

sealed, but earlier records while

the cases were in adult court were

open to the public. According to

those documents, detectives and

prosecutors alleged that one

group of Damascus junior varsity

team members was suiting up for

the last practice of the season in

the freshman area of the locker

room when a second group came

in, turned off the lights and

guarded the door. One by one,

four boys were wrestled to the

floor and assaulted, according to

the earlier hearings and court

records.

Each of the suspects had differ-

ent roles in the attacks, the earlier

hearings and court filings al-

leged.

“Whether it was pushing,

punching, stomping, holding

down, tackling or wielding the

broom,” Feeney said during an

adult court hearing last year, “the

crimes could only have been com-

mitted with the active participa-

tion of each defendant.”

[email protected]

[email protected]

MARYLAND

Cases wind down for 4 charged in Damascus sex assaults

Each teen has admitted,

in juvenile court, to role

in locker room attacks

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in Lanham on Thursday announced the installation of the first section of track, left, for the $5.6 billion Purple Line

light rail system, which will eventually travel 16.2 miles and make 21 stops between New Carrollton and Bethesda. “In Maryland, we are proud to be

setting an example for the rest of the nation, and the Purple Line is at the heart of our state’s infrastructure success story,” Hogan said, according to the

state’s website. The line has delays and a dispute over its opening date, but it is one of the most far-reaching public-private U.S. transit partnerships.

Md. governor touts Purple Line’s

progress at installation ceremony

PHOTOS BY SARAH L. VOISIN/THE WASHINGTON POST