NRL stars Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr have been charged with firearms offences following a police investigation into the players’ controversial camping trip.

The high-profile South Sydney and Melbourne players were caught flouting COVID-19 guidelines after spending the weekend with several other men in Taree.

Watch the video above

Alongside photos of the gathering, Addo-Carr shared videos on social media of him shooting a gun.

Police will claim Mitchell gave a firearm to a person not authorised to use it, and he has now had his licence suspended and a number of guns seized by police.

The players have been issued notices to appear in court on August 4.

“Yesterday, officers attached to Manning-Great Lakes Police District commenced an investigation into alleged breaches of the Public Health Act 2010 (NSW),” NSW police said.

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“During the course of the investigation, police were alerted to alleged offences under the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW).”

Mitchell attended Taree police station on Tuesday morning, where he was “issued with a Future Court Attendance Notice for the offence of give firearm to person not authorised by licence/permit”.

“His firearms licence was suspended, and a number of firearms were seized by police,” the NSW police statement read.

Addo-Carr was charged over the alleged unauthorised use of a firearm.

NRL comes down hard on COVID-19 breaches

The NRL on Tuesday sent a major warning to all players that coronavirus guidelines must be followed.

Mitchell and Addo-Carr were handed $50,000 fines – with 60 per cent on hold – and a suspended one-match ban for flouting stay-at-home orders.

“It’s certainly hard to accept such behaviour when the game is doing everything it can to persuade the community that its players are responsible and behave appropriately,” ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said.

“The penalties have been structured so as to give these players one further opportunity to demonstrate that they can be trusted.

In the video below: NRL boss hands down COVID-19 punishments

“If they contravene again, then those parts of the penalty that have been suspended will be activated and they may also be subject to further sanction.”

Acting NRL chief executive officer Andrew Abdo said the league’s fines for breaching COVID-19 guidelines made no judgement on any alleged criminal activities.

“We’ll wait for any criminal matter that’s investigated by the police and make our judgements following that,” he said, speaking before the charges were laid.

“We’ll review the findings of the police and then we’ll be in a better situation to determine if anything further is required.”

– with AAP

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Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr have both been charged with firearms offences following their controversial weekend camp.

NSW Police confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that the duo had been charged and will face court in August, after Addo-Carr uploaded videos of him shooting a gun on social media.

Police will allege Mitchell gave a firearm to a person not authorised to use it, and he has now had his licence suspended and a number of guns seized by police.

The pair were both fined $1,000 by NSW Police on Monday for breaking social-distancing laws after a weekend gathering at a property near Taree.

They issued an apology, with Mitchell admitting the Kangaroos stars had “slipped up”.

The NRL issued the pair with $20,000 fines, with another $30,000 suspended, but neither will miss a game after getting one-match suspended bans.

Photos posted by Addo-Carr showed the pair with 10 other men around a fire, prompting the NRL to label the pictures as disappointing and unacceptable.

He was also seen shooting a gun and riding a dirt bike without a helmet, while NRL-contracted Newcastle fringe player Tyronne Roberts-Davis is seen in one of the photos.

“Police have been told a group of more than 10 men were at a gathering on a rural property near Taree on Saturday 25 April, in contravention of current ministerial directions,” NSW Police said in a statement.

“Following extensive inquiries, three men – two aged 22 and one aged 24 – have been issued with $1,000 [fines] for failing to comply with a ministerial direction. The 24-year-old had previously received a warning for breaching the Public Health Act.”

The fine also came on the same day the league further pushed its claim for a return, discussing its strict biosecurity rules with clubs on Monday afternoon. But Mitchell insisted they did not mean to flout rules imposed by the federal and state governments to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

“I have been up here with my family for four or five weeks practising social distancing,” Mitchell said in a video. “It was a little bit of a slip up. Foxy [Addo-Carr] reached out, his cousins are going through a bit of stuff up in Sydney.

“He just wanted to get up to the bush and make sure they were getting cultured and connected again. That was the whole part of the concept of what the weekend was.

“I wasn’t here to break any rules or hurt anyone. We’re not being selfish, I couldn’t turn down the brothers in a time of need. On behalf of Foxy and all my mob, we do want to apologise.”

A repentant Addo-Carr said “nothing was intentional or deliberate” as he tried to “put a smile on the faces” of family members going through a tough time. But under NSW guidelines people can only leave the house for work, essential shopping, exercise, medical appointments and compassionate visits.

All NRL players also agreed to health and safety protocols when the competition was stopped for the shutdown.

“On face value, the image in today’s media is both disappointing and an unacceptable breach of health orders,” the NRL said in a statement. “The NRL will be speaking to the players involved to seek further information and we will ensure the players provide any assistance authorities require.

“Our players are role models and we expect them to lead by example during this pandemic.”

The drama could not have come at a worse time for the NRL as it attempts to convince the government it can safely resume its season on 28 May, ahead of other major codes.

Proposed NRL biosecurity rules for the season resumption will make players stay home – with no visitors allowed – except when training, playing, making visits to the doctor and doing essential food shopping.

The NRL has threatened teams with the loss of points and heavy fines if any player breaks the rules, and say they will further educate players before next week’s planned resumption of training.

However Australia’s chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said the actions of the pair would not influence any government decision.

Sammamish, Wash. — Two lawyers who represent a group of Eastside Catholic High School football players accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2018 criticized recent media coverage of the case, arguing the press unfairly demonized the students and put their futures at risk. 

The attorneys said the recent attention has unnecessarily jeopardized the athletes’ personal reputations and future educational opportunities, such as scholarship offers to play football at prestigious universities.

“Leave these young people alone and let them move on with their lives — all of them,” said Lara Hruska, a Seattle attorney who is representing some of the students in an ongoing public records lawsuit aimed at curbing further media attention. “People in the community have taken it upon themselves to try to derail their educational trajectories, and (they) won’t let this story go.” 

The remarks come in response to the KING 5 series “Glory and Shame At Eastside Catholic” and subsequent stories from other media outlets. The reporting scrutinized a 2018 sexual encounter and a months-long criminal rape investigation involving four standout Eastside Catholic football players who were suspects, another star Eastside Catholic player who was a witness, and a second witness who was a football player from Lake Washington High School in Kirkland. The alleged victim was 16-years-old at the time and attended another school.

KING 5 is not identifying the individuals involved in the case because the players were never arrested or charged with a crime and the female is an alleged victim of sexual assault. 

Five of the six boys involved in the April 2018 incident later landed college football scholarships, but two of them have since lost their offers. One of the Eastside Catholic students, a witness to the alleged rape, lost his football scholarship last week and the prestigious university also revoked his admission. The oldest suspect, who graduated from Eastside Catholic in 2018, lost his chance to play football on a college scholarship at the time because the university wouldn’t allow him to join the team while the police investigation was active, according to a different attorney on the case. 

“These boys were experiencing their own trauma. They, too, have been in counseling because of all of this,” said Emily Gause, a criminal defense attorney who represents one of the Eastside Catholic teens. “The boys are 100 percent innocent and we believe all of the evidence supports it.” 

This is the first time attorneys for the private school athletes have responded to questions or granted an interview about the case that cast a shadow over the six players and resulted in the alleged victim dropping out of her high school and being hospitalized, according to her written statement submitted as part of the public records lawsuit. 

“This is not a newsworthy story in the first place, and we shouldn’t have to be here discussing it,” Hruska said. 

Hruska, on behalf of her clients, is now attempting to block The Seattle Times from obtaining the same 521-page investigative file already released to KING 5 in December, 2018. KING 5 did not do a story when it first received the records because advocates for the alleged victim advised coverage at the time would further harm her. 

KING 5 is not a party in the lawsuit. 

‘It’s Not Our Business To Judge’ 

It’s undisputed, based on a KING 5 review of hundreds of pages of law enforcement records, that the four high school football stars took turns having sex with the girl in the open-air bed of a pickup truck as it drove through the wealthy Bellevue suburbs of Hunts Point, Yarrow Point and Medina on Friday, April 20, 2018. 

Two other football players, including another Eastside Catholic student and a Lake Washington student, watched from inside the cab. At least one player in the truck took videos of the events that night and sent them out over the popular app, Snapchat, according to the police records and KING 5 interviews with students who said they received and watched the video clips. 

Records show the alleged victim and the football players do not agree on whether or not the sexual acts that night were consensual. The female told police she was drunk and intimated when the four football players took turns having sex with her. She said the sex was not consensual, and she froze because she was afraid.  

The players denied allegations that they sexually assaulted the female. Law enforcement records reveal the four male suspects did not agree to police interviews nor did they provide statements at the time of the investigation. Fifteen months after the prosecutor’s office declined to file charges, the suspects stated in court records that “no crime was committed.” 

The alleged victim, now 18, wrote in a court declaration last month that she was telling the truth when she made the report of sexual assault in 2018, and she’s fed up with being called a liar. Through her attorney, the female declined an interview request.

“She said everything she intends to say in her declaration,” said Abby St. Hilaire, the Seattle-based attorney who represents the alleged victim. 

After a five-month police investigation led by the Clyde Hill Police Department, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined to file any charges. 

The star athletes remained on Eastside Catholic’s powerhouse football team during and after the criminal investigation, helping the team win two more Washington state 3A championship titles in 2018 and last year. Two of the Eastside Catholic students who were suspects and one who was a witness are seniors this year. They still attend the private, faith-based Sammamish school. 

Hruska and Gause said the sexual encounter, which happened while the teens drove through public streets, was a “private moment” between consenting teenagers.  

“My primary concern is: ‘Is it consensual? Is it respectful at the time?’ Hruska said. “My understanding is that these young people made a decision about what to do with their bodies and that it’s not our business to judge. I have no interest in purity tests for teenagers.” 

The attorneys said their clients are wrongfully being “labeled as rapists” for allegations that never resulted in criminal charges.  

“All of the evidence supports consent so we believe the truth needs to come out,” Gause said. “It’s perhaps one of the most damaging labels that anyone can face but especially a juvenile boy who’s about to start his adult life.” 

Evidence Paints Inconsistent Picture 

Not all of the evidence supports the football players’ assertions that the girl consented to the sexual activities. 

The police file contains many conflicting accounts of what happened that night, and that’s why King County prosecutors said they declined to file criminal charges against the athletes. They did not have a “good faith belief” that the evidence was strong enough to lead to a conviction. 

WATCH: Prosecuting attorney shares why players weren’t charged

The alleged victim, according to records, was consistent in her account of what happened that night in multiple interviews with law enforcement officials. She repeatedly expressed that she did not consent to sex and she froze in the moment while being tossed around the bed of the truck. 

She told a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) that one of the football players pulled her hair back and it hurt her neck. 

“I told him not to but he didn’t stop,” she told the SANE nurse. “My neck was pulled all the way back and it was hard to breathe and speak and I felt as if I was being lifted off the ground by my hair.” 

In a May 2018 interview with a Clyde Hill detective and the lead prosecutor on the case, the girl said the players forcibly pushed her to the bottom of the truck bed when cars passed by.  In the same interview, she stated “it didn’t really seem real,” adding that she couldn’t talk or pull away because as she tried to stand up, the players pushed her back down.

“I was really scared and I felt that like if I didn’t listen to them they were going to do something,” the girl said to the prosecutor. 

She was also consistent in her statements to law enforcement that because she felt intimidated, she never told the boys to stop the sexual activity.

“..the way I was acting…I didn’t seem like I wasn’t okay,” she told the detective. “When I get nervous or, like in uncomfortable situations, like, that’s not really normal I guess to what people would think of.”

Was the alleged victim drunk?

Police records show dozens of differing statements about whether or not the girl was intoxicated and in a state of mind to consent to sexual relations. There is no indication in police records that any of the boys involved drank alcohol that night.

Six days after the incident, the girl reported to a SANE nurse at Evergreen Hospital that she’d consumed five to seven shots of whiskey with two students before meeting up with the football players. 

“I was pretty drunk,” she said to the nurse. 

The alleged victim told police and prosecutors she was too inebriated to consent. 

“I wouldn’t have done any of that sober,” she said in an interview with a King County prosecuting attorney.

A close friend of the alleged victim, who said she saw the girl right after the events in the truck, told police it was obvious she was under the influence and “pretty out of it.” 

“I could notice that she was drunk, that she was kind of saying like, ‘No, like I’m fine, like I’m not that drunk,’ but I knew she was,” the friend said.

A schoolmate of the alleged victim told police she’d seen a video of the incident via Snapchat. She said she could see the alleged victim having sex in the bed of the moving truck and heard her say on the tape that she was fine, but she appeared obviously intoxicated.

Football players in the truck and other witnesses told police the girl appeared sober.

“If she did drink, which we don’t accept as a truth, she did so on her own, never with the boys, and they had no idea she had anything to drink,” Gause, the attorney, said. “She told investigators that they wouldn’t be able to tell because she acts the same when she’s sober and when she’s drunk.”

A male teenager told police he drank a small amount of alcohol with the alleged victim before she met up with the football players. He reported she had “four little shots” of whiskey, a little bit of Baileys (Irish) Cream and that she was not altered.

Soon after the night in question, the same boy gave conflicting accounts of the girl’s sobriety in Snapchat messages.

“(I don’t care) if you were drunk. U (messed) up (that night),” the boy wrote to the alleged victim.

“She drank all my alcohol,” the boy wrote to the girl’s friend in a Snapchat exchange. “I don’t give a (expletive) that she was intoxicated.”

The girl’s mother told police her daughter said she was “fine” when she picked her up at a friend’s house after the incident and that she didn’t “smell any alcohol” on her daughter’s breath.

An Uber driver who gave the girl a ride from Hunts Point where the players dropped her off told police in a June 2018 interview that she “seemed fine” and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Friends Describe Girl’s Behavior 

Police records reveal some students told authorities the alleged victim described the events in a positive light right after the incident and in the first few days that followed, in contrast to her statements to law enforcement.

A student who hung out with alleged victim that night told police the girl “stated multiple times” she “wanted to have sex” with more than one boy.  Another friend stated when the girl returned from the encounter with the players, she appeared “happy” about what happened and “not distraught,” according to the investigation file.  

One of the alleged victim’s friends stated that the girl boasted about what happened that night, according to a statement she provided to police through her attorneys. 

“(She) was talking about it a lot at school; she was bragging and showing people photos from the night,” the girl told the attorneys.

Another student, who doesn’t know the victim, told police he watched several Snapchat videos of the incident while attending a lacrosse game and “it looked very bad.” The student described scenes, according to police records, where the players traded a girl around. He said the person videotaping the incident asked the girl if she was okay and she replied, “yes.” 

Despite obtaining a search warrant, detectives were never able to recover the videos from that night because they said the app automatically deleted them. Hruska said no police records indicate that the videos exist. 

Not All Sexual Assault Survivors The Same 

The athletes’ attorneys said the alleged victim’s actions before, during and after the incident show she was a willing participant in the encounter. But advocates for victims say there’s no one-size-fits-all reaction or response to a sexual assault. 

It’s common, advocates say, for victims not to fight back or to freeze in the middle of the sexual assault.  

“Survivors face enormous barriers to healing and justice built on a foundation of long-held, outdated notions about how victims should react, both during and following an assault,” said Mary Ellen Stone, executive director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center. 

Sexual assault experts say it’s not unusual for victims to forget all or parts of a sexual assault because of the way trauma effects a person’s brain chemistry. Experts said it explains why some victims may also recount the assault differently at different times.

“We need to get better at believing victims and being able to hold in our heads the idea that people can be both good in some aspects of their lives and also capable of committing a sexual assault,” said Stone, who did not comment on the specific case involving the Eastside Catholic teens.  

Stone said misguided notions of “a perfect victim” persists in our criminal justice system and in our society’s everyday reaction to sexual assault. 

That’s the reason why the majority of sexual assaults are never reported to law enforcement, too few perpetrators are held accountable and too few victims get the resources they need to heal, Stone said. 

Attorneys Blame Racism For Community Response 

While three of the Eastside Catholic students involved in the April 2018 incident still have their football scholarships intact, their attorneys are fighting to make sure it stays that way. 

The athletes’ lawyers said parents from Eastside Catholic and other schools with no connection to the case have listened to “gossip” and then worked to sabotage the boys’ college football scholarships by calling and sending letters to the universities. 

Hruska said racism is to blame for the community’s response to “rumors” surrounding that Friday night. Three of the four players who were accused of sexual assault are African American. 

“It appears that the community — largely affluent, largely white — cannot believe that these young men of color did not commit a crime,” Hruska said. 

Hruska said the universities that may be considering rescinding the boys’ offers should consider the circumstances surrounding the situation.   

“I would ask, ‘Do you subject all of your enrolled students to the same kind of retroactive purity tests? Or do you just reserve this for those being retaliated against in the media?” she said.

KING 5 investigative reporter Taylor Mirfendereski contributed to this story.

If you or someone you know is the victim of a sexual assault, help is available. We’ve compiled a list of some Washington state resources and information on how to report a sex crime in your area. 

To talk to someone immediately from the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, call the 24-hour resource line at 888-997-6423. 

Updated

February 07, 2018 17:40:56

The ringleader of a drug syndicate which supplied cocaine to several Queensland football stars, including Karmichael Hunt in 2015, has been sentenced to nine years’ jail after pleading guilty to trafficking dangerous drugs.

John Touma, a former NRL Sydney Roosters player, pleaded guilty to four offences including supplying, possessing and trafficking dangerous drugs.

Touma was charged in 2015 after a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation involving phone taps.

Several past and present NRL players were implicated in the CCC investigation, but charges were dismissed against four of them.

Former Gold Coast Titans player David Taylor was fined $1,000 after pleading guilty in November 2016 to possessing cocaine.

Queensland Reds player Karmichael Hunt pleaded guilty to his involvement in March 2015 and was fined $2,500 for cocaine possession.

Prosecutor Mark Whitbread told the court Touma dealt with large amounts of cocaine and supplied drugs to 48 people in south-east Queensland, including 11 regular customers.

“Touma was identified as the head of the network,” he said.

“The business was well established and dealing with large quantities.

“Mr Touma’s operation involved him having a front … a wine-selling type of business. It was clearly a front.”

The court heard Touma’s drug trafficking was carried out over a seven-month period from May to December 2014.

Touma’s barrister said the cocaine business began after his mother was murdered and he had a falling out with family.

Ex-NRL player Matt Seers also pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in Brisbane to trafficking cocaine as part of the syndicate.

He received four years’ imprisonment, to be suspended after serving one year.

The prosecution said Seers was involved for four and a half months, and made drug deliveries on behalf of Touma.

“He made six trips to Sydney on behalf of Mr Touma,” Mr Whitbread said.

Seer’s barrister Patrick Wilson told the court his client was introduced to drugs during his playing days and that is when his addiction to cocaine began.

Mr Wilson said Seers was “embarrassed and ashamed” for the impact the publicity has had on his family.

“[Seers was] unequipped to handle life post-retirement from professional sports,” he said.

Two other associates of Touma, Adam Surplice and Peter Kassiotes, have also pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine for their involvement in delivering drugs.

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First posted

February 07, 2018 13:59:19

COLUMBIA, MO. • South Carolina coach Dawn Staley couldn’t believe the officials in Sunday’s Southeastern Conference showdown took one of the country’s elite players out of the game.

Staley didn’t stick around long enough to watch another one of the game’s best put her final touches on the outcome.

With 2:56 left in a game No. 15 Missouri mostly controlled at Mizzou Arena, Staley made the long walk from the visitors’ bench to the visitors’ locker room, the new owner of two technical fouls, costing her a chance to witness the final moments of the Sophie Cunningham Show, a day that will also be remembered for Mizzou’s 83-74 win over the nation’s fourth-ranked team.

But the matchup between All-SEC performers was never a contest. Returning from a knee injury suffered last Sunday at Alabama, Cunningham put together an inspired effort in an emotionally charged day, finishing with a game-high 27 points against the defending national champs. Sophomore guard Amber Smith added 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Tigers improved to 14-2 and 2-1 in the SEC.

In a rematch of last February’s 62-60 Mizzou victory, when Cunningham’s layup beat the final buzzer, her Gamecocks counterpart was mostly a bystander. A’ja Wilson, a contender for national player of the year, scored a season-low eight points in just 19 minutes before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

South Carolina arrived having won 24 of 25 games since last year’s loss, including its march through the NCAA Tournament. After a rare loss, Staley all but called out the officials for tilting the game in MU’s favor and even questioned the assignment of the game’s officiating crew.

“She’s the best player in the country and plays half of the game,” Staley said. “You can go in the record books (and look up) all the players of the year, the candidates or whatever, and they’ve never played half a game. I’m just saying.”

It’s no secret some teams around the league don’t exactly enjoy playing against Mizzou’s style — Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy called Missouri “a dirty, dirty team” after losing to the Tigers last year — but the Tigers’ reputation might have struck a nerve with the Gamecocks (13-2, 2-1) before the ball was tipped: When Staley noticed two of the game’s three officials — Metta Roberts and Luis Gonzalez — also worked last year’s matchup in Columbia, she sent a text message to Sally Bell, the league’s coordinator of officials, to unload her frustration on the assignments.

“I don’t know if that’s coincidental,” Staley said. “Maybe it was, because that’s what she said. But you’ve got to do better. I’m not saying they’re the reason why (we lost), but you’ve got to do better when you’re coordinating officials and games and all of that.”

Staley added that her team, the four-time SEC champions, can’t afford to give heavy minutes to less experienced reserve players.

“That’s really hard for a top team in the country,” she said, “for a top team in the country to be without a top player for half the game.”

Mizzou coach Robin Pingeton shared some sympathy for Staley — to a point — but also credited the Tigers for sticking to their plan. Mizzou wanted to muck up the game, clog the lane and frustrate Wilson with contact. “It is frustrating, I’m sure,” Pingeton said. “But SEC ball is physical.”

Wilson took a seat just 3:19 into the game after picking up her second foul, with both coming on the offensive end while the Gamecocks were stalled in a scoreless span of 3:38. The Tigers came on strong the rest of the first half with Cunningham scoring six of their final eight points on a post-up, layup and baseline drive.

Cunningham, wearing a bulky brace on her right knee, took over in the second half, three days after sitting out Thursday’s loss to Louisiana State. In a half the Tigers led from start to finish, she scored 16 of her 27 points and for the game missed only one of her 10 shots from the field and shot 9 of 11 from the foul line.

Cunningham said she didn’t have any limitations because of the injury. For the All-SEC junior, there was never a doubt she’d play Sunday — or lose the game.

“Everyone from top to bottom knew we were going to (win),” she said.

“I’m glad it was frustrating for them because that’s what we worked on and executed it perfectly. Not perfectly but pretty close.”

The third quarter couldn’t have started better for the Tigers. On USC’s second possession, Jordan Frericks stepped in front of Wilson in the lane and drew the All-American’s third foul, just 1:16 into the half.

Cunningham closed the third quarter with an acrobatic scoop shot in the lane as the Tigers took a 60-50 lead into the fourth quarter. Cunningham stayed on the attack and followed another layup with a celebratory dance, wild enough to crack a smile from Pingeton on the bench.

But Cunningham quickly joined her there, along with Porter and Frericks, after drawing her fourth foul with 7:10 left. The Tigers held their ground without their three best players on the floor for three minutes, and as the Gamecocks struggled to trim the deficit, Wilson collected her fifth foul. During the ensuing break, Staley earned her second technical, walked across Norm Stewart Court and saluted the crowd to a round of boos. By then the celebration had started as a cozy crowd of 4,652 relished another epic showing from their star and a clinical takedown of the defending champions.

“They’re a phenomenal team,” Mizzou’s Smith said, “but we had to take them out of what they’re used to.”