Judge sentences high school football player in assault case

An Idaho judge has sentenced a high school football player to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service after prosecutors said he took part in a brutal locker room assault on a black football player in a small Idaho town.

The Times-News reports that District Court Judge Randy Stoker issued his decision Friday.

John R.K. Howard of Keller, Texas, was originally charged with sexually assaulting his classmate after prosecutors said he kicked a coat hanger into the victim’s rectum during the October 2015 incident at Dietrich High School.

But in December, Howard pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child as part of a modified guilty plea, in which he acknowledged he would be found guilty in a trial but maintained his innocence.

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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com