The University has rescinded its offer of a scholarship to baseball recruit Corey Brown of Tampa, Fla., after he agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of battery Monday.
In a statement released last night, the University attributed the scholarship's removal to Brown's "current personal circumstances."
This announcement comes only one day after Brown, a senior at Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., admitted he was among a group of four boys charged with third-degree felony battery, according to the Tampa Tribune. The charge stems from an incident on the night of Sept. 21, 2003, when the four friends allegedly had sex with the same 14-year-old girl in the back of a parked SUV, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
After the case was initially investigated as a "lewd and lascivious" act on a child, State Attorney Mark Ober and the defendants agreed to a plea bargain, whereby the boys would plead guilty to a battery charge in exchange for a probationary sentence requiring no jail time.
Ober was unavailable for comment.
According to Cathy Brown, the former recruit's mother, the University was made aware of the allegations in September. Nevertheless, Brown officially signed with the Cavaliers during November's early signing period.
Director of Media Relations Rich Murray would not comment beyond the press release.
Prior to the announcement of Brown's scholarship removal, his attorney Ralph Fernandez had hoped an agreement could be made with the University. Fernandez said he wanted to "sit down and review the case with the appropriate University officials so they [would be] able to fully understand it."
Fernandez said the case is "very different than most you read and hear about in the media."
The assault victim's attorney, Steve Crawford, was quoted in the Tampa Tribune as saying the plea bargain was made partially because the girl's parents made a choice "not to destroy these boys' future."
Brown's loss could have a significant impact on head coach Brian O'Connor's second recruiting class at Virginia. Brown is ranked as the No. 35 overall high school senior in the country by TeamOneBaseball.com, as well as the nation's No. 5 outfield prospect. In addition to being a star outfielder on the baseball team, Brown received at least one Division I offer to play football as a wide receiver.
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