CAMERON, Texas — Four Caldwell volleyball players have been indicted on felony charges after a teammate said she was forcibly stripped on a school bus.
Marina Brinkman, 17, Sophie Goodman, 17, Kadie Hartman, 17, and Katherine Hart, 18, were indicted on one count of engaging in organized criminal activity - unlawful restraint.
Craig Greening, the defense attorney for Sophie Goodman, said the indictment against his client is full of problems.
"The indictment is defective," Greening said. "Unlawful restraint is not one of the enumerated offenses under the organized criminal statute."
Engaging in organized criminal activity for unlawful restraint is a third-degree felony in Texas.
The girls were originally charged with indecency with a child by contact.
According to the arrest affidavits, the incident happened Sept. 21 on the team’s way home from a game in Bell County.
The bus was on Hwy. 190, about 10 minutes from the Dairy Queen in Cameron.
The victim, a 14-year-old girl, told the Milam County Sheriff's Office that Goodman acted as the “lookout.”
Goodman “played music as loud as possible” and “sang as loud as she could to cover any sound the victim made,” according to the arrest affidavits.
The victim also told the Milam County Sheriff’s Office that Brinkman held her down while Hart and Hartman removed her “pants and panties to her mid shin and exposed her genitals.”
The victim said she repeatedly told them to stop.
Caldwell ISD Superintendent Andy Peters said four adult staff members were on the bus that night.
Wendy Weiss, the head softball coach, drove the bus. Head Volleyball Coach Jane Anne Giese and assistant coaches Marcus Escalante and Kara Rau sat in the front.
