The Glen Ridge rape was an incident in Glen Ridge, New Jersey

Glen Ridge, New Jersey

Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,527. In 2010, Glen Ridge was ranked as the 38th Best Place to live by New Jersey Monthly magazine....

 in 1989 in which a mentally handicapped girl was raped with a broomstick and a bat, by members of the Glen Ridge High School

Glen Ridge High School

Glen Ridge High School is a comprehensive six-year public high school serving students in grades 7-12 in Glen Ridge, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Glen Ridge Public Schools. GRHS is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education.Excellence in academic...

 football team. This event attracted nationwide attention, mainly due to the perception that the assailants had been given special treatment by the school and local authorities due to their status as local football stars. The events were later documented in a book, TV movie, and were a loose basis for an episode of Law & Order.

People involved

• The Victim – Known as Leslie Faber in the book and movie, her real name was never made public. She was 17 at the time of the incident. Her IQ has variously been reported as 65 or 49, and is said to have had the mental development of an 8 year old second grader. What is said to have made her so susceptible to the rape was that she would do whatever she thought was necessary to be friends with someone, especially the athletes, whom she idolized. Her assailants forced her to have sex with a baseball bat, a broom and a stick. She had been sexually assaulted before in 1983, in an unrelated incident. This was also not her first encounter with these boys, some of whom had previously tricked her into licking a pen coated with dog feces and sticking a hot dog in her vagina. While technically a student at Glen Ridge, she primarily attended classes at Columbia High School.
• Detective Sheila Byron – Main investigator of the case. She had graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1981.
• Richard Corcoran (Sr.) – A local police Lieutenant and detective. Father of one of the assailants.
• Detective Robert Griffin – Conducted the initial interviews at the school.
• Robert Laurino – Prosecutor who tried the case.
• Herbert H. Tate Jr. – Essex County
  Essex County, New Jersey
  Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 783,969, ranking it third in the state after Bergen County and Middlesex County; Essex County's population has declined from 786,147 as of the bureau's...
  
   prosecutor.
• Raymond Weiss – Spokesman for Tate.
• Chris Archer – Assailant, 17 at the time of the rape, Reportedly the ringleader, and the one who convinced the victim to come down to the basement. Younger brother of Paul Archer (by one year).
• Kevin Scherzer – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape, and co-captain and linebacker
  Linebacker
  A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
  
   for the football team.
• Kyle Scherzer – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. Twin brother of Kevin Scherzer. Captain of the baseball team, co-captain and quarterback
  Quarterback
  Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
  
   of the football team. He applied lubricant to the bags that covered the objects used to penetrate the victim. At one point, he passively suggested that they stop.
• Bryant Grober – Assailant, 17 at the time of the rape, had oral sex with the victim. Found guilty of conspiracy, sentenced to three years of probation and community service.
• Paul Archer – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. He did not actually do any of the assault, but stood by and did nothing to stop it. A date with him was promised to the victim if she would come down to the basement. The victim had a crush on Paul, and Bernard Lefkowitz’s book alleges that he was occasionally nice to her, unlike others in the town. Captain of the wrestling team. Plead guilty.
• Peter Quigley – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. Co-captain of the football team. Did not participate but verbally encouraged the others.
• Richard "Richie" Timothy Corcoran Jr. – Assailant, 18 at the time of the rape. Son of a local police Lieutenant, reportedly penetrated the victim with a stick. His involvement presence at the scene of the rape was discovered on April 11, 1989, and prompted prosecutors to assume control of the case the next day and remove Corcoran's father from the case. All charges against Corcoran were dropped.
• Mari Carmen Ferraez – Paul Archer's girlfriend, taped a conversation in which she led the victim into answering questions in a way that made the rape seem consensual. Since the taping violated no recording laws, Ferraez was charged only with witness tampering, but the charges were later dropped.
• Charles "Charlie" Figueroa – An African American student at Glen Ridge (one of only 3 in his graduating class) and a member of the football team. Because of being African American, he was not considered part of the inner circle of football players. He told a teacher about the incident after the teacher overheard him discussing the rumors about it with another student. He had been asked by the boys involved to tape a planned second incident (which never occurred). This was reportedly how the rape first came to be known about outside of the student body. Charlie was not present during the rape. He and his family were reportedly further ostracized by people in Glen Ridge who considered him a snitch, while many outsiders have since concluded that he acted honorably.
• Phil Grant – A senior baseball player who left while the victim was undressing. He also persuaded a friend to leave and tried to get Paul Archer to leave.
• Michael Buonomo – The principal of Glen Ridge High School at the time.
• Benedict Tantillo – Vice-principal of Glen Ridge High School.
• John Vincent Saykanic – Kevin Scherzer's defense attorney.
• Donald W. Merkelbach – Defense Attorney for the Scherzer twins.
• Ronald Kuby – Charles Figueroa's Attorney.
• Sidney H. Reiss – Judge of the Superior Court. Arraigned the Scherzer twins and Peter Quigley.
• Bernard Lefkowitz
  Bernard Lefkowitz
  Bernard Lefkowitz, a native of New York City, was an author, sociologist, journalist, and investigative reporter.A reporter and assistant editor at the New York Post, Lefkowitz worked for the Peace Corps before becoming an author...
  
   – Author who wrote a book detailing the events of the rape and the town’s reaction.

Incident

The assault occurred on March 1, 1989. The victim left her house the afternoon of the incident to go play basketball in Cartaret Park. On the way, she found a stick which she decided to keep. When she arrived at the park, many of the school's athletes were there, either watching or participating in an informal baseball practice. Chris Archer came over to her, and asked her to come down to the Scherzers' basement for a party. The Scherzers' house was also adjacent to the park and their parents were in Florida, with only their grandmother being home at that time.

After initially refusing, she agreed when Chris told her that his brother, Paul (whom she had a crush on), would go on a date with her. Chris put his arm around the victim and escorted her to the basement. When they reached the basement, 12 boys from the park were there (13 including Chris). After some conversation, Bryant Grober removed his pants and underpants and the victim removed her shirt. At this point, a sophomore and another underclassman left. A total of six boys left while the victim undressed, including Phil Grant (a senior baseball player who tried to get Paul Archer to leave with him) and another senior baseball player.

Seven boys stayed, all football players, and all seniors, except for junior Chris Archer. Bryant Grober then had oral sex with the victim. The victim was then penetrated with a broom by the Scherzer twins. Chris Archer then penetrated the victim with a baseball bat. The broom and bat were covered with plastic bags coated with Vaseline. At one point during the rape, Kyle Scherzer passively suggested that they stop. The victim did not resist because she thought that letting these boys do these things to her would make them like her and want to be her friend. After it was over, she promised not to tell, in a kind of team cheer/pact. She then waited outside the Scherzer house for a long time, waiting for Paul to show up for their date, which he never did.

A number of boys later attempted to get the victim to come down to the basement a second time to repeat the incident. Rumors of the incident circulated around the high school for three months before any arrests were made. The first staff member to report the incident was a teacher who overheard Charles "Charlie" Figueroa discussing the rumors with a fellow classmate. Figueroa had been asked earlier to videotape a planned second incident (which never took place).

The vice principal (Benedict Tantillo) then called the police on March 22. Police then interviewed Figueroa and the victim’s swim coach, the latter of whom had heard about the incident from the victim herself three days after the incident. Detective Lieutenant Richard Corcoran (Sr.) put Detective Sheila Byron in charge of investigating the case. Byron’s main focus was to establish if the victim had given consent, or whether she was incapable of giving consent.

During her interviews with the victim, it became clear to Byron that the victim did not even really understand exactly what had happened to her, so she would not have known she could say no. During the investigation, it became clear that the victim still wanted the athletes to like her, and that she did not want to get them in trouble.

Byron realized she would need independent corroboration, because the victim might not make a convincing witness in a trial. The prosecutor's office officially became involved with the investigation on April 7, and officially took control on April 12, when it was discovered that Richard Corcoran Jr. had been present at the scene of the crime.

First public reports

The first public report of the incident was on May 23, 1989, by the local NBC station WNBC-TV. Over the next few days the story was picked up in newspapers across the United States and Canada. The New York Times and Washington Post ran their first articles regarding the incident on May 25, 1989, the same day the story was picked up by newspapers in Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...

 and Spokane

Spokane

Spokane is a city in the U.S. state of Washington.Spokane may also refer to:*Spokane *Spokane River*Spokane, Missouri*Spokane Valley, Washington*Spokane County, Washington*Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War*Spokane * USS Spokane...

, Washington. The Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

 became the first foreign newspaper to carry the story on May 26, the same day the story hit newspapers in northern Alabama and Tampa Bay, Florida.

Reactions within Glen Ridge

Many Glen Ridge students characterized the victim as promiscuous, as did many parents in the town. Some Glen Ridge residents stated that they felt that the school placed too great an importance on athletics, and this led outsiders to speculate that the athletes had received special treatment by the school. People pointed out that the boys had not been punished for destroying Mary Ryan’s house two years earlier, and that they could get away with things that others could not. Some said that the athletes were being protected in order to maintain an image of Glen Ridge as a squeaky clean town, and that until the national media had picked this story up, the incident would have been swept under the rug. Many others rejected the notion that the town as a whole bore some collective guilt in the matter. Many within the town felt more sympathy for the boys and their families than for the victim. Bernard Lefkowitz's book about the incident quoted a parent as saying "It's such a tragedy...they’re such nice boys and this will scar them forever." The school responded to the charges by suspending the suspects from school for ten days.

Reactions outside the town

Outside the town, many were shocked that the incident had gone unreported for so long, and were equally surprised to hear townspeople blaming the victim for her rape. Many people were surprised by the number of boys who were reported to have sat by and watched the rape take place. Some people blamed the parents of the boys, claiming that they should have raised their children better, while many others , both in the town and elsewhere, blamed the community of Glen Ridge itself, for breeding what they said was a culture in which jocks were raised to believe, and treated as though, they were above the law. Many believed that the boys had received special treatment by the school because of being on the football team. Others compared the case to a recent rape of a jogger in Central Park by a similar number of poor, urban, African American teens (the African American teens in the Central Park case were later found to be innocent). Many felt that the Glen Ridge teens were treated less harshly, because they were white, upper middle class, suburban, and their victim was mentally challenged.

Later lives of those involved

• The Victim – Currently works in a department store in New Jersey.
• Detective Sheila Byron – Is now the Chief of Police in Glen Ridge
• Richard Corcoran (Sr.) –
• Robert Laurino – On January 20, 2010 was appointed to the position of Acting Essex County Prosecutor by Acting Attorney General of the State of New Jersey and Former Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow

• Herbert H. Tate Jr. –
• Chris Archer – Attended Boston College
  Boston College
  Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
  
  , where he was accused of rape by another girl, however those charges were dropped.
• Kevin Scherzer – Later worked for a floor finishing company in New Jersey.
• Kyle Scherzer – Later worked for a floor finishing company in New Jersey.
• Bryant Grober –
• Paul Archer –
• Peter Quigley – Married to Tara Timpanaro Quigley, his high school "sweetheart" (their relationship was heavily discussed in Lefkowitz's book).
• Richard "Richie" Timothy Corcoran Jr. – After the charges against him were dropped, in 1997, Corcoran won a $200,000 settlement in a federal civil rights suit charging malicious prosecution. After the events of the rape he married a woman named Michelle, and they later became estranged. Corcoran enlisted in the Army in June 2000, and was deployed to Afghanistan, as a generator mechanic, assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group (not to be confused with a Special Forces qualified member of a Special Forces team) before returning to Fort Bragg
  Fort Bragg (North Carolina)
  Fort Bragg is a major United States Army installation, in Cumberland and Hoke counties, North Carolina, U.S., mostly in Fayetteville but also partly in the town of Spring Lake. It was also a census-designated place in the 2010 census and had a population of 39,457. The fort is named for Confederate...
  
   in 2003. In February 2005, at age 34, he shot his wife (then 30) once and her boyfriend (William Paul Seifert, a Special Forces soldier) several times, before committing suicide
  Suicide
  Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
  
   by shooting himself. At the time of his suicide, the Corcorans had a seven month old baby.
• Mari Carmen Ferraez –
• Charles "Charlie" Figueroa –
• Michael Buonomo – became Superintendent of Schools in Mount Olive, NJ
• Benedict Tantillo – became high school principal in East Windsor, NJ, then Superintendent of Pascack Valley, NJ then Superintendent in Duxbury, MA

Our Guys the book

Bernard Lefkowitz

Bernard Lefkowitz

Bernard Lefkowitz, a native of New York City, was an author, sociologist, journalist, and investigative reporter.A reporter and assistant editor at the New York Post, Lefkowitz worked for the Peace Corps before becoming an author...

 wrote a book about the Glen Ridge Rape called Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb. The book attributes many of the problems with the football players to the society's (as well as the town's and the parents') heavy influence on winning and success rather than on personal character. The book was later adapted into a TV movie.

Our Guys the TV movie

The events of the Glen Ridge Rape were adapted into a TV Movie called Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge which premiered on ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 in 1999, and is occasionally shown on Lifetime. The film, directed by Guy Ferland

Guy Ferland

Guy Ferland is an American film and television director.-Career:After Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film Notorious inspired him to become a filmmaker, Ferland went on to study cinema production at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television, graduating in 1988, and received...

, stars Ally Sheedy

Ally Sheedy

Alexandra Elizabeth "Ally" Sheedy is an American film and stage actress, as well as the author of two books. She is best known for her roles in the Brat Pack films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.-Early life:...

, Eric Stoltz

Eric Stoltz

Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...

, and Heather Matarazzo

Heather Matarazzo

Heather Amy Matarazzo is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as a geeky girl in the film Welcome to the Dollhouse . She played Lilly in The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement...

, and is an adaptation of Bernard Lefkowitz

Bernard Lefkowitz

Bernard Lefkowitz, a native of New York City, was an author, sociologist, journalist, and investigative reporter.A reporter and assistant editor at the New York Post, Lefkowitz worked for the Peace Corps before becoming an author...

's book. The rape scene of the film was toned down due to the film being on broadcast television. Some of the things described in Lefkowitz's book were left out of the film, such as Kevin Scherzer's alleged habit of masturbating in class and the jocks putting Mary Ryan's cat in a microwave for a few seconds. The film renamed several characters and invented some new ones. The film also altered the time-line of events, moving the time of the rape being reported in the Fall (it is football season and the film opens on homecoming night), when in reality the rape was reported in the Spring. It also shows Amy (real name Mary) Ryan’s party occurring after the arrests, when this party really occurred two years prior to the rape.

Cast

Character Name	Real Life Basis	Actor	Notes
Detective Kelly Brooks	Sheila Byron	Ally Sheedy Ally Sheedy Alexandra Elizabeth "Ally" Sheedy is an American film and stage actress, as well as the author of two books. She is best known for her roles in the Brat Pack films The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.-Early life:...
Prosecutor Robert Laurino		Eric Stoltz Eric Stoltz Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...	Stoltz also narrates a brief summary of the later lives of some of the characters at the film's end
Leslie Faber	Victim (name never revealed to the public)	Heather Matarazzo Heather Matarazzo Heather Amy Matarazzo is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as a geeky girl in the film Welcome to the Dollhouse . She played Lilly in The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement...	Leslie Faber was a pseudonym assigned to the victim by Bernard Lefkowitz
Ros Faber	Victim's Mother	Sara Botsford Sara Botsford Sara Botsford is a Canadian television and film actress. She is probably best known for her role of Ann Hildebrand in the television series E.N.G. for which she won a Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role...
Paul Archer		Scott Vickaryous Scott Vickaryous Scott Vickaryous is a Canadian actor.-Personal life:Although Vickaryous was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, he was raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta. His parents are named Ron and Donna, and he has an older sister named Jennifer. He attended Salisbury Composite High School in Sherwood Park,...	In the film he suggests to his friends that they stop, but it was actually Kyle Scherzer who did this.
Lt. Frank Bennett	Lt. Richard Corcoran (Sr.)	Eric Keenleyside Eric Keenleyside Eric Keenleyside is a Canadian actor.He lives in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife, Peg, and their two children. He was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick and grew up in London, Ontario, and spent time in Brisbane, Australia...
Mr. Faber	Victim's Father	Michael Tomlinson
Doug Archer	""	Art Hindle Art Hindle Arthur Hindle is a Canadian actor and director.Hindle was born in Halifax. His family moved to Toronto while he was a child. Although shy as a youngster, he grew to be a rebellious and independent teenager...
Mrs. Archer	""	Gwynyth Walsh Gwynyth Walsh Gwynyth Walsh is a Canadian actress best known for her role of the Star Trek character B'Etor, one of the Duras sisters.She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1958 and raised in Vancouver. Walsh earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Alberta and started her career appearing on stage...
Barry Bennett	Richard "Richie" Corcoran Jr.	Brendan Fehr Brendan Fehr Brendan Jacob Joel Fehr is a Canadian actor. He portrayed Michael Guerin on the WB television series Roswell and Laboratory Tech Dan Cooper in CSI: Miami.-Early life:...
Chris Archer	""	Tygh Runyan Tygh Runyan -Life and career:Runyan was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His father is an environmental science professor at the University of British Columbia, and his mother is a poet...
John Tierney	made up character	Kett Turton Kett Turton Birkett Kealy "Kett" Turton is a Canadian actor.Kett was born in Portland, Oregon, United States and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He started acting in local theater when he was 4 years old...
Carl Brewer	Charles "Charlie" Figueroa	Doron Bell
Bryant Grover	Bryant Grober	Derek Hamilton
Officer Balke	made up character	Lochlyn Munro Lochlyn Munro Richard Laughlain "Lochlyn" Munro is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Munro was born in Lac La Hache, British Columbia. He started his acting career after a serious sports injury ended his dream of playing professional hockey. While playing music in various clubs around Vancouver, British...
Mr. Jack Scherzer	""	Stephen Miller
Kevin Scherzer	""	Ryan Taylor
Kyle Scherzer	""	Will Sanderson Will Sanderson Will Sanderson is a Canadian television and film actor.He is known for having a long working relationship with director Uwe Boll, having appeared in most of his video-game based movies such as House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, BloodRayne and In the Name of the King.In 2007 he played the...
Peter Quigley	""	Aaron Smolinski
Mari Farreaz	""	Carly Pope Carly Pope -Early life:Pope was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an older brother, Kris, also an actor, and a younger brother, Alexander. She began acting during her high school years in Vancouver where she appeared in stage classics such as The Odd Couple, playing Mickey, and A Midsummer...
Amy Ryan	Mary Ryan	Amber Rothwell	The party at this character's house actually happened two years before the events depicted in the film.
Judge Cohen	""	David Abbott