HAZING CASE: Specialist helping Wilson coaches through ‘difficult year’

By April Amadon

The trial in the case against two Wilson High School students facing charges in connection with an alleged hazing on a school bus continued ay town hall Monday night behind closed doors.

Sitting outside in a car was Michael Paul, president of MGP & Associates, a New York City firm specializing in crisis public relations and reputation management.

Paul is helping coaches William Atlas and Thomas Baia try to repair their reputations after what he said has been a difficult year.

Because the incident involved more serious crimes, including forcible touching, the case took on sexual abuse overtones in the beginning, Paul said. Even though those charges were reduced, the implication is still there for many people, he said.

One of the coaches — Paul wouldn’t specify which one — has faced an instance of public misunderstanding because of it.

Several months ago, he said, one of the coaches was in a nearby town and was approached by a teenage baseball player who knew him. As the coach talked with the player, the teen’s father grabbed his son and pulled him away, saying, “Get away from my kid!”

“The way in which he did it was as if the coach did something in a sexual nature to kids,” Paul said. “In his mind, after hearing the story so many different ways, it got twisted so much that he’s thinking that (the coach) did something. That shows how fearful (the public) should be when rumors start, when incomplete stories start, when lies become truths inappropriately. It’s scary. Reputations are very, very important. They deserve to be defended.”

In recent weeks, people have been coming up to the coaches and apologizing, he added.

Baia and Atlas are on paid leave from their jobs, both as teachers and coaches at Wilson Central School District. They have not been in the classroom for over a year, Paul said.

Because of union contracts, they are still being paid as teachers, but not as coaches.

Paul said he believes the coaches will be exonerated, and the “truth” will come out.

“They want to continue to teach. They want to continue to coach,” he said. “They want to live in a community where people will come up to them a year from now and say, ‘Wow, that’s horrible that you went through that.’ ”

Inside Wilson Town Hall, Justice George Berger heard more witnesses testify in the prosecution’s case against 17-year-olds Colton Sherman and Christopher Sidote.

Sherman faces two counts of second-degree hazing while Sidote faces one count each of first- and second-degree hazing, all in connection with the alleged incident which took place on an April 17, 2008, bus ride.

The teens, who were varsity baseball players at the time, are accused of engaging in hazing behavior with at least two members of the junior varsity team during the ride back from a game in Niagara Falls.

Two coaches who were on the bus — Atlas and Baia — were charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Jury selection for their trial is set to begin July 6.

The trial began Saturday and continued Monday night. Because Sherman and Sidote both have youthful offender status, the trial was closed to the media and public.

Sources who were inside the courtroom, who did not wish to be named, said Saturday’s testimony included several witnesses for the prosecution, including two who did not show up on time.

The first, a high school student, was attending a graduation and came to court late; the other was a state police investigator, who ended up testifying Monday night, the source said.

As rain fell outside the courtroom Monday, several teenage boys were seen entering the courtroom, some accompanied by their parents and attorneys.

A decision in the case against Sherman and Sidote may not come until after the coaches’ trial begins next week. More witnesses are expected today, Wednesday and possibly Thursday.