Father of football player involved in 'unfounded' rape case says son has paid a price

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — The father of a former Volusia County high school football player who was involved in a rape investigation said Wednesday that it was an injustice and his son has paid a price.

No charges will be filed against four football players who were named in the case.

The father of one of the players said his son lost a full football scholarship to college because of the allegations, and they have been waiting since June for New Smyrna Beach police to complete their investigation.

On Wednesday, Channel 9 obtained a report that said the case was unfounded and no charges will be filed.

Dan Diacont said it was a dream come true when his son got a full college scholarship to play football.

But once his son and three other former Spruce Creek High School football players were named in a rape investigation involving the school's former athletic trainer, the scholarship, worth almost $100,000, was revoked.

"To me, it's not necessarily a dollar amount, it's that we don't know what could have come out of that," he said. "We don't know what opportunities he would have had, what avenues from that school."

The football players admitted to having sex with a 23-year-old athletic trainer at her home in May, but they said it was consensual.

When the school employee went to police two days later, she claimed she had been raped.

A police report said she admitted to drinking whiskey and smoking marijuana with the students at her home, and she said, "It is possible sex with (one of the students) was consensual."

The woman resigned from the high school and moved out of state.

Diacont said his son was able to get another scholarship at another school, but it is not at a school that he decided to attend.

"Due to the lack of evidence suggesting a crime occurred, this case is unfounded," the report said.

"If someone comes in and says, 'This is what happened,' and that's not what happened, you should have some kind of criminal liability," Diacont said.

The state attorney's office said Wednesday it has received a complaint against the former athletic trainer and a prosecutor is reviewing the case, but no other details were given.

Cox Media Group