In 2007, a small group of travelling students said they were pulling a common prank when they barged into a hotel room with a camera and forced a classmate to bend over, filming as the victim was digitally penetrated.
The U.S. justice system caught up to one of the perpetrators Wednesday, as a 19-year-old Canadian pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to assault and battery. He four years' probation and apologized to the victim after acknowledging his key role in the incident.
The matter has caused much turmoil at elite Ashbury College in Ottawa. The victim's parents were outraged at the school's handling of the matter, including alleged attempts to minimize what happened to their son.
After Wednesday's court proceedings, the victim's father told reporters the assault had caused "enormous harm" to his son, and that the guilty plea demonstrated "the enormity of this offence and that it was not a prank."
In an impact statement presented in court, the victim lashed out against the plaintiff, laying out his personal and familial struggles of the last three years.
"You have taken away or stalled our ability to develop as a family. So before you go and make half-hearted, insincere apologies and condolences to the public, really take a long while to think about what you have done to us. Until you do that, I brush aside any attempt you make to apologize to us. You have done something horrible and sick, and you must pay for it," the victim said.
The matter remains in front of the courts, as another alleged offender is set to appear in Boston Juvenile Court next month on the same charges as the 19-year-old.