In December of last year, 15 Salisbury University students were implicated in an assault case in which a man was lured to an off-campus apartment with Grindr- a dating app– to then be forcefully held, beaten, and called derogatory slurs.
The victim, who later said that he believed he was targeted specifically because he was gay, was lured there under the pretense of meeting with a 16 year-old boy; the age of consent in Maryland, though heavily disputed, is 16.
Prosecutors have now dropped the felony hate crime and first-degree assault charges associated with the case for all 15 of the accused, and they instead faced misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment and second-degree assault, with some facing misdemeanor hate crime charges as shown by court records.
Of the 15 students, 11 have already been tried and charged, although some still await sentencing. Each student has been charged with one misdemeanor, with some being granted stet for any second misdemeanor faced. This means that those cases have been placed on an inactive docket, and could be revisited or dropped completely depending on if these defendants meet certain conditions required by the court. Each of these students will additionally serve some form of jail time, despite all issued sentences being reduced in Wicomico’s district court.
Four students still await their trials, which are set to be held next month: Elijah Johnson will be tried by jury on April 9th, followed by Eric Sinclair on the 12th, Benjamin Bradenburg on the 20th, and Zachary Leinemann on the 21st. Of these, only Leinemann and Johnson are set to be tried for misdemeanor hate crimes based on sexual orientation.
The students were all involved in or associated with a campus fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which has since been suspended from campus and has experienced previous suspensions.
While the students who are still enrolled may be able to come back at some point in the future, as of now these students are banned from campus via court order. The charged students will also be scrutinized according to the Student Code of Community Standards in a university-issued hearing, which could carry penalties ranging between a simple warning and the possibility of expulsion.
By Anna Belong
Managing Editor
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