'I'M ASHAMED OF WHAT I'VE DONE'.

Byline: JASON AUSLANDER 

A 17-year-old former Robertson High School football player was sentenced Friday to a nine months in a youth-detention facility in Las Cruces followed by three months of probation for his role in assaulting other players with a broomstick.

In January, Jerek Padilla admitted he was guilty of one count of criminal sexual penetration and one count of conspiracy and could have been committed to the Children, Youth and Families Department until his 21st birthday. Before state District Judge Jim Hall sentenced him, Padilla apologized to the victims in the case, who were assaulted during a football camp outside Las Vegas, N.M. in August.

"No one should have to go through what they did just to play football," Padilla said. "I am sorry I wasn't strong enough to say no to the pressure. I am ashamed of what I've done and I hope everyone I hurt will forgive me."

Hall sentenced Padilla to nine months at the John Paul Taylor Center in Las Cruces, which psychologist Susan Cave described as a smaller facility than the Youth Development Detention Center in Albuquerque and one that is not controlled by gangs. She said Padilla will receive more intensive counseling at the facility.

After the sentencing, Padilla's father, John Padilla, became angry when a sheriff's deputy blocked him from talking to his son. "You better keep your hands off me," John Padilla said before leaving the courtroom with his sister.

After he left, deputies unholstered their Taser guns and told John Padilla to continue out the building or he'd be arrested. Padilla could later be seen ranting and raving as he walked down Marcy Street after leaving.

Jerek Padilla cried as he was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies following the hearing.

Five other former Robertson football players -- Michael Gallegos, Lucas Martinez, Marcus Gutierrez, Steven Garcia and Santiago Armijo -- face charges of assaulting several sophomores and freshman, as well as one junior, with a broomstick at the Western Life Camp between Aug. 11 and 14. The incidents, originally deemed hazing, began after Gallegos -- allegedly the main culprit in the attacks -- and a sophomore began trash-talking about girlfriends and sisters.

Before Jerek Padilla's sentencing hearing Friday, Armijo's lawyer told Judge Hall that his client would plead guilty next week to two counts of attempted criminal sexual penetration and one count of conspiracy. Also before the sentencing, Hall reduced several charges of kidnapping against the remaining four defendants back to attempted kidnapping, reversing an earlier decision to upgrade the counts.

At Padilla's sentencing, several parents of victims in the case spoke to the judge.

One mother said her son -- reportedly held down and assaulted with the broomstick -- punched a hole in his bedroom wall with his head. She said the only way he can deal with what happened to him is to run.

"He takes off running in the middle of the night," she said. "My happy, funny, loving son is now angry."

She also said the boy was so was so traumatized after the incident that it took four days for him to realize he'd sustained broken fingers in the attack.

"Our boys idolized the six of you," the mother said. "You were state football champions. And what did you do to them? You humiliated and hurt them forever in the worst possible way. They had to tell their fathers they'd been raped. And thank God they were man enough to do it or you might have gotten away with it."

Another victim's father echoed those words, calling his son and the other 10 victims "courageous" for coming forward.

"They and their families have lived a nightmare," the man said. "While in prison I want you to think about the lifetime of damages you caused."

While those parents and others asked for the maximum sentence for Jerek Padilla, they also commended him for taking responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty.

Dan Cron, Padilla's lawyer, said the young man never even attended one day of school at Robertson, located in Las Vegas, N.M., because he'd just transferred from West Las Vegas High School. He said Padilla -- a student with a 3.8 grade point average -- didn't know any of the other young men involved and was told by Gallegos that if he didn't sodomize one of the boys with the broomstick, they'd do it to him.

In a psychological report, Padilla "expressed a strong sense of a need to follow and obey others," Cron said.

John Padilla told the judge, "I feel for the victims and parents of them, but this has affected me and my family mentally and physically." Charlene Padilla, Jerek Padilla's aunt, said, "He's just a very good young man and he does have a good future in front of him."

Judge Hall agreed and commended Jerek Padilla for taking responsibility and behaving while on house arrest.

"My intention is not to ruin your life," Hall said. "(But) I don't believe you truly understand how serious this was and how wrong this was. You took your strength and used that against weaker people. It's particularly troubling that you did it in the most demeaning way possible. It's not hazing that got out of control, it's much more serious than that. What you did was not acceptable."

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or [e-mail].