WILSON: Geoffrey Seefeldt sentenced in school bus hazing case

Local News

August 19, 2009

Staff Reports The Niagara Gazette Wed Aug 19, 2009, 11:19 PM EDT

The oldest of three varsity baseball players who were charged in connection with an alleged hazing on a Wilson school bus last year was sentenced in secret Tuesday night at Wilson Town Court.

Attorneys said Geoffrey Seefeldt, 19, was spared jail time, though the actual sentence was not released because of Seefeldt’s youthful offender status.

Seefeldt pleaded guilty in June to endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

Two co-defendents — Colton Sherman and Christopher Sidote, both 18 — were found non guilty July 9 on charges of second-degree hazing and forcible touching after a non-jury trial.

Child endangerment charges against two coaches charged in connection with the case, William Atlas and Thomas Baia, were dropped July 6.

The players were accused of assaulting junior varsity players in the back of a Wilson school bus during a ride back from a game in Niagara Falls on April 17, 2008.

The families of the alleged victims are now suing the Wilson Central School District for damages related to the incident.

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