An emergency request by a mother to let her son, a standout Hinsdale South football player charged with illegal use of a handgun, rejoin the team and play this season was denied Thursday by a DuPage County judge.
Jerome Roberts, 17, a senior who is 6-foot-4 and weighs 305 pounds, made many preseason listings of standout area football players expected to get scholarship offers from major colleges. But he was suspended from all athletic and extracurricular activities on Aug. 23, the day before the school’s first varsity football game.
On April 13, Roberts was arrested and charged with possession and consumption of alcohol. He was arrested on May 22 and charged with aggravated and reckless discharge of a firearm.
The athletic code of Hinsdale High School District 86 calls for a student-athlete charged with an infraction to be suspended for 25 percent of the season. Suspension from all athletic eligibility comes with a second violation.
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The school board on Aug. 23 cited the second violation and dismissed Roberts from the football team. He is attending classes, school officials said.
His mother, Doris Roberts, filed a lawsuit this week in DuPage County Circuit Court contending his removal from the team was improper because the criminal case is pending and there has been no finding of guilt.
“Jerome was a starting defensive tackle who had a very real opportunity to obtain a Division I football scholarship if he plays this season,” the lawsuit states.
She also argued that taking the action the day before the first game rather than several months ago, when the alleged criminal act took place, didn’t allow her son to enroll at another school.
Roberts’ attorney, Steven Glink, filed an emergency motion asking Judge Ronald Mehling to lift the suspension and let Roberts play in Friday’s scheduled game against Willowbrook High School.
The Hinsdale South Hornets are undefeated. Glink told Mehling on Thursday that Hinsdale South varsity coach Jim Kirwin “is ready and willing to allow Jerome to be reinstated to the team if this court so orders.”
Kirwin could not be reached for comment.
After a short hearing, Mehling ruled the standard used by the school board in removing Roberts from the team was legally met when the DuPage County sheriff’s police arrested and charged him.
“The police had probable cause to make the arrest and that is the necessary standard,” said Joseph Loran, the attorney representing the school board.
DuPage County Circuit Court records show that, for the May 22 incident, Roberts was charged with four counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and two counts of reckless discharge of a firearm. He was ordered to stay away from certain areas of the Kingery Quarters neighborhood in unincorporated Hinsdale, and possess no firearms or ammunition.
At his arraignment, prosecutors said the shooting was gang-related. Roberts has denied the allegations.
Both the weapons and alcohol charges are scheduled to be heard in court next month. If convicted of the weapons charges, Roberts faces a sentence ranging from probation to 15 years in prison.
Before these incidents, Roberts never had been suspended from school and had no criminal record.