MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – The victim of a 2011 high-profile sexual assault case involving members of the Milton High School football team is sharing his story in hopes of closing a loophole in Vermont law to help others.
“I want to make a change and I don’t care if I have to put my face out there to do it,” Zac Blondin told lawmakers Thursday.
Blondin was 14 when he tried out for the Milton football team. He never could have expected what was to come. Five fellow players sodomized Blondin and other teammates with a broom handle and pool cue over a two-year period. It was a case that shocked the community, the state, and the country. One of the victims, Jordan Preavy, took his own life.
WCAX cameras were in the courtroom in 2019 when a judge in a civil action handed down a $280,000 settlement which found the school was partially to blame for failing to protect the students. But the settlement was 40% less than what Blondin and his attorney, the late Jerry O’Neill, were asking for. The jury found Blondin was partially responsible because he had roughhoused with teammates at a previous party.
“I was shocked, dumbfounded. How do you find a victim 40% negligent for something they didn’t do?” Blondin said. “I didn’t go there planning on going through what happened.”
Surrounded by family, The now 26-year-old Blondin told lawmakers he wants to make a difference for other sexual assault survivors by closing a loophole. Under current state law, a jury can reduce a plaintiff’s payout in civil actions if they determine the victim bears some responsibility for their assault.
Celeste Laramie, Blondin’s lawyer, says the loophole could allow defendants to blame victims for their own sexual sexual assault. “By applying comparative negligence to sexual assault cases, we tell sexual assault survivors they bear some amount of responsibility to predict and therefore prevent their own sexual assault,” she said.
The case brought to light the culture of bullying and hazing and raised questions about school districts’ responsibility to prevent it. Blondin says telling his story brings him closure and he hopes it will help others. “What somebody does in their ill will isn’t your responsibility,” he said.
Blondin testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and lawmakers thanked him for sharing his story. They’re working on a bill which they hope to consider in the weeks ahead.
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