Attorney for Sayreville football player charged speaks out

Anthony Johnson Image
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
EXCLUSIVE: Attorney for a Sayreville football player speaks out
Anthony Johnson speaks to the attorney about the case exclusively from New Brunswick.

SAYREVILLE, N.J. (WABC) -- The attorney representing one of the young defendants in the Sayreville High School football team hazing and sex assault scandal is speaking about her client exclusively to Eyewitness News.

While the victims deal with all this, the attorney says her client is in a kind of social isolation chamber: not at school, no contact with friends.

Attorney Pamela Brause says her client is in shock after being one of the seven juveniles accused in the Sayreville sex abuse and hazing case.

She says that despite his young age, he understands the magnitude of the allegations.

"He gets that, but understanding that you have to deal with these charges in a particular procedure is something very new to him," Brause said.

Brause was in family court in New Brunswick with her client on Tuesday, and says he knows his reputation in Sayreville has been tainted.

"He seems like a nice child. And how he's thought of himself and how others thought of him, he knows people are reflecting badly on him, it's monumental for these kids," Brause said.

So far, the attorney has not had the opportunity to have a long face to face interview with her client.

"It's shattering to be able to sit down and say let's take a look at these charges, let's take a look at where you stand, he's not, he can't do it yet," Brause said.

Brause wants to have all of the facts in front of her before making any judgment on her client's involvement in the Sayreville case.

A couple of points that she emphasized are that she does not want her client talking to classmates about the case, and she wants her young client to resume his education somehow, even after being suspended from school.

"He needs to be in school. He absolutely needs to be in school, for a whole host of reasons. He is entitled to an education and he needs to be back in school in some capacity," Brause said.

Brause did not want to speculate on whether her client's case could end up in the adult court. She is going to do everything she can to keep this in the juvenile court system.