Lucca van der Woude is one of American water polo’s brightest Olympic prospects.
This past fall, the 6-foot-4 defender was named the Orange County Register’s high school player of the year. He is a prized commitment for UCLA, the reigning NCAA champion. He is a star on USA Water Polo’s national youth team, often a stepping stone to the Olympic and World Championships teams. And in December, the sport’s national governing body enlisted him to mentor the next decade’s potential Olympians.
He is also an admitted sex offender.
Van der Woude, 17, admitted in Los Angeles County Juvenile Division Court on Nov. 7 to committing aggravated sexual battery on two younger male Harvard-Westlake students between Sept. 1, 2022, and Dec. 20, 2023, according to previously unreported Los Angeles County Juvenile Court, Los Angeles County Probation Department and U.S. Center for SafeSport documents obtained by the Southern California News Group (SCNG).
Van der Woude’s admission to sexual penetration with a foreign object, his fingers, was part of a plea bargain deal with prosecutors. He is scheduled to appear at a March 7 hearing to determine whether he has complied with the terms of the agreement.
Neither van der Woude’s admission nor his arrest at Harvard-Westlake nine months earlier have prevented him from transferring high schools, leading his new school, Newport Harbor, to a CIF title, representing Team USA internationally or in December mentoring the nation’s top 13- and 14-year-olds at a camp sponsored by USA Water Polo, the sport’s Irvine-based national governing body, at the nation’s most prestigious Olympic training site.
Los Angeles County Probation Department Court documents, a sworn victim impact statement presented in Los Angeles Juvenile Court, sworn affidavits by a Harvard-Westlake player and one of his parents, and allegations in a series of complaints to the U.S. Center for SafeSport outline how Harvard-Westlake coaches and administrators failed to report allegations of van der Woude’s sexual battery to the victims’ parents or law enforcement officials, as required by law, or the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Harvard-Westlake coaches also ignored and minimized repeated racist comments directed by van der Woude toward teammates, according to allegations in the sworn victim impact statement presented in juvenile court, sworn affidavits and complaints with the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
Jack Grover, Harvard-Westlake head coach and the director of Los Angeles Premier Water Polo, a USA Water Polo-affiliated club, is under formal investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for failing to report the sexual misconduct immediately to the center as required by the SafeSport code, according to a Jan. 14 SafeSport email obtained by the SCNG.
One of the Harvard-Westlake and Los Angeles Premier teammates, van der Woude has admitted sexually battering is identified in this report as Player Z to protect his identity.
“He had the courage to speak up about being sexually assaulted, and Harvard-Westlake’s answer has been to call him a liar and look the other way,” said Daniel Watkins, an attorney for Meier Watkins LLP and who represents Player Z and his family. “They failed to protect him when it mattered most, then retaliated against him and tried to silence him for daring to speak the truth. The community deserves accountability, and no institution — no matter how powerful — can escape its day of reckoning.”
The U.S. Center for SafeSport was informed on April 11, 2024, of allegations of van der Woude’s sexual battery of two Harvard-Westlake students and was provided with the names of school employees with alleged knowledge of the incidents, yet van der Woude has continued to be invited to and participate, both as a player and mentor, in USA Water Polo training camps and international tournaments designed to identify and develop future Olympians, according to SafeSport documents and USA Water Polo records.
“An individual — like Lucca van der Woude — who has sexually battered multiple teammates multiple times, and over the course of years; lied and misled authorities about his criminal conduct, until he admitted them in court; defamed his victims in an attempt to protect his own reputation; and violated no-contact orders almost two dozen times while playing in USA Water Polo-sanctioned events (without informing USA Water Polo), should not be allowed to participate in USA Water Polo,” the parent of one of his Harvard-Westlake victims alleged in a complaint to the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
USA Water Polo invited van der Woude to work as a “mentor” at a USAWP-sponsored Holiday Camp for the nation’s top eighth-grade players in December at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. His participation in the camp came five months after USA Water Polo officials were informed by his attorney that he had a court-ordered no-contact restriction placed on him prohibiting him from being in the pool or locker-room at the same time as a Harvard-Westlake and Team USA teammate and that the court order was related to “sexual misconduct,” according to allegations in U.S. Center for SafeSport complaints, sworn affidavits and a person with direct knowledge of the conversations. The teammate is one of the individuals van der Woude has since admitted to sexually battering.
Sally Wiggins, USA Water Polo chief of compliance and human resources, and Anne Laurence, the organization’s senior director of the Olympic Development Program and Pipeline, were among those informed of the no-contact order in July 2024, according to interviews.
Despite the no-contact order issued on April 26 and that runs through March 7, van der Woude has had contact with one victim on at least 23 occasions at USA Water Polo-sanctioned national team selection and training camps, top flight tournaments and international competitions with Team USA, according to allegations made to SafeSport by a Harvard-Westlake and Los Angeles Premier Water Polo player and his parents, other SafeSport documents, USA Water Polo records and interviews.
Prior to the court order but after his arrest, van der Woude had contact with Player Z at two USA Water Polo events. At an Olympic Development Program practice conducted by USA Water Polo in Thousand Oaks on March 10, “There was significant physical contact in the pool” between van der Woude and a Harvard-Westlake and Los Angeles Premier Water Polo Club teammate, Player Z, according to allegations in a complaint to SafeSport.
During a National Team Selection Camp in Fullerton, April 19-21, also organized by USA Water Polo, there was again “physical contact” in the pool between van der Woude and Player Z, according to a SafeSport complaint.
Van der Woude remains on USA Water Polo’s national youth team roster even though the U.S. Center for SafeSport temporarily suspended him on January 14, 2025, from participating in any way in any event sanctioned by USA Water Polo, including matches or practices, while it continues its investigation of him, according to SafeSport documents and interviews conducted by the SCNG.
Van der Woude’s arrest also raises questions about whether his transfer from Harvard-Westlake to Newport Harbor violated CIF Southern Section rules. The CIF Southern Section approved the transfer on Aug. 22 because of a “Valid Change of Residence,” according to the CIF Southern Section website.
“CIF Defined ‘Valid Change of Residence’ certified by the receiving school in accordance with bylaw 206 and all other applicable eligibility rules; student is eligible in all sports at any level. If it is later found that the student DID NOT complete a valid change in accordance with the Bylaw, the school will forfeit any contests in which the student played,” the CIF Southern Section wrote regarding the van der Woude transfer.
But CIF Southern Section rules also state, “Students who have disciplinary action taken or pending at the previous school are not eligible to transfer” and “Students who left a school for disciplinary reasons are not eligible to participate in athletics at the new school.”
Van der Woude’s family moved into a home in Costa Mesa in June, according to property records, although probation department records list his home in Sherman Oaks.
Newport Harbor’s CIF final victory, led by van der Woude, secured the school’s 15th CIF title in boys water polo, a record for Southern Section boys water polo. The team featured two other key seniors besides van der Woude, who joined the team as offseason transfers.
“We followed the proper CIF process, and the student was deemed eligible to compete,” Annette Franco, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District public relations officer, said in an email to the SCNG. “For any further questions regarding this matter, we recommend you contact CIF Southern Section.”
Grover, an honorable mention All-American at UCLA, was an assistant coach on USA Water Polo’s national team for the World Aquatics U-16 Championships last June 18-24 in Malta, according to USA Water Polo press releases. Team USA’s head coach for the tournament was Ross Sinclair, the Newport Harbor High School head coach and director of Newport Beach Water Polo, a USA Water Polo-affiliated club.
Sinclair declined to comment for this article.
Van der Woude’s continued participation also raises questions about the U.S. Center for SafeSport policy of not listing banned or suspended minor athletes in its public database of disciplined coaches, athletes and officials. The Center does not list disciplinary action taken against minor-age athletes or participants because of legal concerns. Athlete safety advocates argue that the policy prevents parents from knowing if the minor-aged individuals their children are teammates with, playing against or being coached by have been sanctioned for sexual, physical or emotional abuse, bullying for racist behavior.
“The Center’s Centralized Disciplinary Database (CDD) is the first of its kind and is key to enforcing its sanctions and ensuring better accountability,” the U.S. Center for SafeSport said in a statement to SCNG. “Federal law requires the Center to list adult participants who have been barred from sport on the CDD. There are a myriad of reasons the courts, criminal justice system, and administrative entities such as the Center handle sanctions against minors differently. The USOPC and NGBs are notified of all measures, including those involving minors, and have the same obligation to enforce those as they do an adult participant. Failing to enforce the Center’s findings and measures, is a violation of the SafeSport Code and could lead to its own disciplinary outcome.”
Van der Woude, over the 16-month period, allegedly sexually battered a teammate in and out of the pool, according to probation department and U.S. Center for SafeSport documents obtained by the SCNG as well as interviews and two sworn affidavits. He also allegedly ambushed the teammate in the shower, kneed him in the testicles, squeezed his penis, whipped him with a stretching band as if he were a slave and routinely directed the N-Word and other racist comments at Harvard-Westlake and Los Angeles Premier Water Polo Club teammates, according to allegations in a sworn victim impact statement and U.S. Center for SafeSport complaints, emails, sworn affidavits and interviews.
One of the victims, Player Z, was 14 when he was first sexually battered by van der Woude, according to juvenile court and U.S. Center for SafeSport documents.
Harvard-Westlake officials failed to notify parents that their children had been allegedly sexually battered by van der Woude after the two victims confirmed to two school administrators in December 2023 that they had been sexually abused by the star player, a former Harvard-Westlake player and his parents allege in a victim impact statement provided to juvenile court, U.S. Center for SafeSport documents and sworn affidavits obtained by the SCNG.
Player Z’s parents did not learn about van der Woude’s sexual battery of their son until Player Z confirmed the allegations in an interview with a Los Angeles Police Department detective on Feb. 29, 2024, a day after van der Woude was arrested in class at Harvard-Westlake, according to sworn affidavits, complaints to SafeSport, emails and interviews.
When asked by the family in May to provide documents on the sexual battery, the school denied having any information about the incidents, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
The Los Angeles Police Department was notified of van der Woude’s alleged sexual battery by the parent of a different Harvard-Westlake parent, according to a person familiar with the case.
“Harvard-Westlake has never reported allegations to any authorities,” Player Z’s parents allege in multiple SafeSport complaints.
Susan Oliver, an attorney representing Harvard-Westlake, did not respond to a request for comment. Instead Dana Furman, a senior partner at Tyson-Mendes, Oliver’s law firm, emailed the SCNG a statement: “Our firm does not have any comment beyond recognizing that we represent Harvard-Westlake, a school Mr. van der Woude formerly attended.”
Richard Commons, the Harvard-Westlake president, did not address specific allegations against the school and its employees but in a statement said, “In regard to your questions, the school took reports of the alleged incident seriously, followed with responsible actions to investigate, and cooperated with law enforcement officials who further investigated the allegations. The school complied with all mandated reporter requirements.
“The school also took action to examine its water polo program and culture, including its policies and practices, and initiated additional training consistent with the National Federation of State High School Associations and California Interscholastic Federation.”
Grover did not respond to multiple phone calls requesting comment or to a detailed email from the SCNG outlining the allegations against van der Woude and him.
Van der Woude was declared “a ward of the court” during the Nov. 7 hearing, according to Los Angeles County Probation Department documents. He was also ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution to the family of one of the victims. The document does not state what if any amount van der Woude was ordered to pay the other victim. Van der Woude is required to report to a probation officer in Van Nuys, according to juvenile court and probation records.
Van der Woude’s attorney declined to comment. The SCNG provided van der Woude a detailed list of the allegations against him. He did not respond to a request seeking comment.
UCLA head coach Adam Wright did not respond to a request for comment.
Juvenile court proceedings and records are not public. The SCNG typically does not name juvenile offenders but is doing so in this case because of van der Woude’s continued interaction with minors.
‘Living and learning with integrity’
Harvard-Westlake has been described by the Hollywood Reporter as “the titan of L.A.’s private schools.”
Its alumni include Grammy and Golden Globe winners, Academy Award- and Emmy-nominated actors, directors and screenwriters, former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, former California Gov. Gray Davis, tycoon Jean Paul Getty Sr., Olympic gold medalists, a president of ABC News, the co-founder of Zillow, astronaut Sally Ride, a member of Great Britain’s Parliament, and H.R. Haldeman, Richard Nixon’s chief of staff during the Watergate scandal.
Harvard School, a military boarding school for boys, was founded in 1900 in a barley field at the corner of Western Avenue and Venice Boulevard. The Westlake School for girls was established four years later. The two schools merged in 1991. The school is not affiliated with Harvard University. Today the school is split between two campuses, a middle school campus in Holmby Hills with the “Upper School,” the high school, located in Studio City.
Of the school’s roughly 290 graduates last year, 48 went on to attend Ivy League schools, 14 enrolling in Harvard alone. Harvard-Westlake’s annual tuition is $52,500 with additional expenses for meals, books and activities running between $2,500 and $3,500. New students must also pay a $2,500 fee. The school reported revenues of $154 million for the 2024 fiscal year and $656 million in assets, according to an Internal Revenue Service filing.
“Harvard-Westlake strives to be a diverse and inclusive community united by the joyful pursuit of educational excellence, living and learning with integrity, and purpose beyond ourselves,” the school said on its website.
But minority students were allegedly subjected to racist comments by van Der Woude on almost a daily basis, according to Player Z’s juvenile court victim impact statement, complaints to SafeSport and interviews. The racist comments began during a Harvard-Westlake team trip to Barcelona in March 2023.
When Black players told coaches about being subjected to being called the N-word or variations of it, on a daily basis by van Der Woude and another teammate, the coaches did not believe them, according to allegations in the victim impact statement and SafeSport complaints. Even after a player admitted to using the racial slur, Harvard-Westlake coaches did not punish the player but instead took the path of what Player Z described in his victim impact statement as “granting him grace.” Player Z’s parents make similar allegations in sworn affidavits and SafeSport complaints.
Van der Woude’s sexual battery and his racist comments allegedly continued into the fall of 2023, according to interviews, a sworn victim impact statement provided to juvenile court and Los Angeles County Probation Department documents, SafeSport complaints and sworn affidavits.
At least one other Harvard-Westlake player besides van Der Woude directed a racial slur at a teammate, according to two sworn affidavits. Three Harvard-Westlake teammates allegedly pressured the player the racial slur was directed at not to report the incident to school officials, according to two sworn affidavits and interviews.
That October, a van der Woude racist comment to a teammate prompted that player’s mother to call Player Z’s father “crying to tell him about it,” Player Z said.
“My parents then asked me whether that ever happened to me, and I admitted to them for the first time that it happened virtually every day, and we had a long conversation about how much worse things had become since the Barcelona trip,” Player Z said in his victim impact statement. “That night I also decided that it was time to stand up against that kind of racism given the impact I saw it was having on my teammate.
“After I disclosed to the coaching staff that Lucca and another student had been using this racist language for several months, there was an investigation and when it was over Lucca and the other teammate were suspended from playing two games.
“And just like that my situation went from very bad to sometimes unmanageable. I would sometimes eat my lunch in the dean’s office just to have a break as more lies were spread about me. Even a coach told me that my only option was to turn the other cheek and try to be a good teammate while being shunned by most people on the team because I disclosed what happened to me. If I tried to focus alone and give them space, they said I thought I was better than them, if I tried to be a part of the group, they ignored me. I knew that I was alone, and it was a very difficult time in my life.”
It would get worse.
“The first time that I told someone about how Lucca was touching me was in December 2023,” Player Z said. “(Another Harvard-Westlake student) seemed very traumatized after the incident with Lucca. He was discussing his experience with two of the deans, and I was sitting next to him for support. Lucca denied assaulting (the other student), and so no one believed (the other student), but I told (the other student) and the two Harvard-Westlake deans that I believed him because it had been happening to me for a long time.”
Player Z said he met with Jordan Church, Harvard-Westlake’s dean of students, and Sharon Cuseo, dean of the school’s upper campus, according to sworn affidavits and interviews.
Player Z outlined to Harvard-Westlake administration officials that van der Woude’s sexual battery began the first day of freshman water polo practice in August 2022 and had “continued (both inside and outside the pool) until December 2023,” according to SafeSport complaints.
“Harvard-Westlake did not report it to any authorities or to us, as (Player Z’s) parents,” the player’s parents wrote in a Dec. 5, 2024, complaint to SafeSport. Church and Cuseo did not respond to phone messages or detailed emails outlining the allegations against van der Woude and the school.
Two months later, van der Woude was arrested by LAPD at school. Although he did not return to the school after the arrest, Harvard-Westlake players and some of their classmates lashed out at van der Woude’s victims, students and parents allege in SafeSport complaints and sworn affidavits and Player Z’s victim impact statement. Van der Woude eventually admitted to aggravated sexual battery, a crime punishable by up to one-year imprisonment. With the admission, he avoided a trial scheduled for Nov. 19.
“Believe it or not, even after Lucca was arrested at the end of February 2024, my time at Harvard-Westlake became even more toxic,” Player Z said. “People assumed that I had called the police or reported Lucca’s behavior, but I had not.”
A sibling at the school’s middle school campus “began receiving threats about what people thought that I had done,” Player Z said. “(The sibling) was being told that our family had messed with the wrong people.”
At one point, the sibling retreated to the dean’s office, afraid to remain at the school.
Player Z’s parents withdrew him from Harvard-Westlake last May 6. In doing so, the parents “expressly cited (among other things) the school’s failure to protect from aggravated sexual battery and to comply with its mandatory reporting obligations,” according to the Dec. 5 SafeSport complaint.
“I will not, I cannot let this defeat me,” Player Z said in his victim impact statement. “I try every day to turn it around and try to use these disgusting memories to make me a better person.”
Failure to report
One of the Harvard-Westlake employees who allegedly received the May 6 email was Grover, according to sworn affidavits, SafeSport complaints and interviews.
Player Z and his parents allege that Grover was aware of the sexual battery of the two players as early as December 2023 and then again when van der Woude was arrested at the school on Feb. 28, 2024.
The U.S. Center for SafeSport, established in 2017 under the authorization of Congress, has the scope and authority to resolve abuse and misconduct reports for more than 11 million athletes participating in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement. The center is also charged with developing and enforcing policies, procedures and training to prevent abuse and misconduct. The Center’s SafeSport Code governs all participants in the American Olympic movement.
The SafeSport code prohibits sexual harassment, nonconsensual sexual contact (or attempts to commit the same), nonconsensual sexual intercourse (or attempts to commit the same), sexual exploitation, exposing a minor to sexual content/imagery and sexual bullying behavior and sexual hazing.
The SafeSport Code also states that “Criminal Conduct is relevant to an individual’s fitness to participate in sport. The age of a Criminal Charge or Disposition is not relevant to whether a violation of the Code occurred but may be considered for Sanctioning purposes.”
Under the California Penal Code, school employees such as teachers, coaches, employees and administrators are considered “mandated reporters” of child abuse, including sexual abuse, or neglect to a police or sheriff’s department (not including the school district police department or school security department), a county probation department or a county welfare department or county child protective services.
Failure to report is punishable by up to six months in jail and/or up to a $1,000 fine.
The SafeSport Code also requires that “an adult participant,” such as a coach “who learns of information or reasonably suspects that a child has suffered an incident of child abuse, including sexual abuse, must immediately: a. Make a report to law enforcement AND b. Make a report to the U.S. Center for SafeSport AND c. Comply with any other applicable reporting requirements under state law.”
“Reporting to the Center alone is not sufficient,” the Code states. “You must report to both the Center and to law enforcement, and comply with any other applicable state or federal laws.
“Adult Participants must know their reporting requirements under this Code, state law, and federal law. Ignorance or mistake as to one’s reporting obligation is not a defense.
“Nothing in this Code shall be construed to require a victim of Child Abuse or other misconduct to self-report. The reporting requirements under this section are an individual obligation of each Adult Participant. Reporting to a supervisor or administrator does not relieve an Adult Participant of the obligations to report as specified under this section. Adult Participants must report even if they believe someone else has already reported. Adult Participants must follow any other reporting requirements imposed by their organization, including adherence to state and federal laws.
“The obligation to report is broader than reporting a pending charge or criminal arrest of a Participant; it requires reporting to the Center any conduct which, if true, would constitute Sexual Misconduct or Child Abuse. The obligation to report to the Center is an ongoing one and is not satisfied simply by making an initial report. The obligation includes reporting, on a timely basis, all information of which an Adult Participant becomes aware, including the names of witnesses, third-party reporters, and Claimants. The obligation to report includes providing the personally identifying information of a potential Claimant to the extent known at the time of the report, as well as a duty to reasonably supplement the report as to identifying information learned at a later time.”
The U.S. Center for SafeSport typically only opens formal failure-to-report investigations of adult participants if there is no record of the adult reporting alleged sexual abuse to the Center, according to two people familiar with the process.
The SafeSport Code also prohibits hazing, including “Ridiculing, taunting, name-calling, or intimidating or threatening to cause someone harm.” It also prohibits harassment that reflects “a discriminatory bias in an attempt to establish dominance, superiority, or power over an individual or group based on age, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, national origin, or mental or physical disability; or Any act or conduct described as harassment under federal or state law.”
Player Z and his family said they did not learn of the no-contact court order against van der Woude until July 26, 2024, shortly before Player Z was scheduled to travel with the U.S. national youth team for a tournament in Budapest. Van der Woude was also scheduled to compete for Team USA in Budapest.
“We immediately notified the Court that Lucca and (Player Z) would be participating on the same team in a USAWP Youth National Team tournament in Budapest, from August 1-3, 2024,” Player Z’s parents wrote in a formal complaint to SafeSport. “But Lucca headed to Budapest for this tournament without first telling USAWP about his no-contact order. On the day of Lucca’s arrival, his attorney notified (USA Water Polo high performance director) Kyle Boal and (Team USA) Coach Derek Clappis of the no-contact order. Mr. Boal understandably explained that there was no way that Lucca and (Player Z) could be on the same team without violating the Court’s no-contact order. As the Court had noted, however, it was Lucca’s responsibility to comply with the Court order, and during the Budapest trip, Lucca violated the no-contact order at least seven times. When these violations were raised with the Court, prior to Lucca’s scheduled trial, Lucca’s attorney blamed USA Water Polo.”
Shortly after the U.S. team arrived in Budapest, at around 1 a.m. local time, Boal said in an interview with the SCNG, “I get a phone call from Lucca’s attorney. She was the first person that told me about (the no-contact order).”
He and Clappis found out about the court order “in a pretty drastic way.”
The attorney, Boal said, admitted that the court order was related to “sexual misconduct” but “didn’t say much more.”
Clappis did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Boal said he informed Wiggins and Laurence shortly after receiving the call from van der Woude’s attorney.
Player Z suffered a panic attack during the Budapest trip, his parents wrote in a letter to SafeSport.
Their son, they continued, “as all victims, should not be penalized or further victimized because Lucca has perpetrated these crimes against him.
“Lucca’s actions are unacceptable and his behavior in ignoring and blatantly violating no-contact orders raises serious questions about (Player Z’s) safety and that of other water polo athletes.”
Despite USA Water Polo officials being made aware of the court-ordered no-contact restriction on van der Woude, the national governing body still invited van der Woude to the December Holiday Camp at the USOPC Training Center in Colorado Springs.
The Holiday Camp, established in 1985, is described by USA Water Polo as “one of its greatest events” where the sport’s rising stars “learn from some of the best coaches our country has to offer.”
The camp is overseen by USA Water Polo’s Olympic Development Program (ODP), the department headed by Laurence.
Laurence and Wiggins did not respond to phone calls or emails requesting comment.
“They invite some seniors to come and, like, mentor and help out,” van der Woude told the SCNG in December after working at the camp. “And, yeah, I went. It was fun. I like coaching a lot. So it was kind of fun, like, help coach, like, younger kids.”
During the interview, Sinclair said that van der Woude had indeed “inquired” about coaching at Newport Beach Water Polo and the coach said van der Woude be coaching younger players.
“The 10s, 12s, 14s,” Sinclair said, referring to the ages of the players he envisioned van der Woude coaching.
In reading his victim impact statement to the juvenile court last November, Player Z recalled that he was just 14 when van der Woude first sexually battered him.
He also recalled the last time.
“That was in December 2023,” Player Z said, referring to a period after he had informed Harvard-Westlake officials about being sexually battered by van der Woude for the previous 16 months.
“I was walking up a staircase at school and Lucca was walking up behind me and (sexually battered me),” he continued. “I was really shocked, because everyone was talking about it and I figured at this point even he would decide to stop. I reacted the way that I often did, which was to clench my butt cheeks, to swat away his hand, and to try to act like it wasn’t happening, and he still did it and gave the same awful smile after.”
Staff writer Dan Albano contributed to this report.