Fla.: The Sheriff, the Sheriff's Son, and the "Coward of Broward"By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations
January 03, 2019
Parents of children gunned down in the Parkland school shooting in Florida last year have never understood two actions taken by Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel: his refusal to fire a campus-based deputy who failed to enter the school during the rampage that took 17 lives, and his continued defense of controversial Obama-era school policies that allowed the  accused shooter, Nikolas Cruz, to avoid arrest and a police record and thereby purchase the murder weapon.
Some now think they have found the answer in a single incident that occurred in 2014. A police report shows that’s when Israel's then-17-year-old son, Brett, was accused of participating in a sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas  High School.
The case was investigated by Scot Peterson -- the armed deputy who took cover while children and staff were shot last February. Using the Obama-era guidelines, Peterson’s recommendation helped his boss’s son receive just a three-day suspension.
“Everyone in this county is wondering why Peterson was allowed to retire so quickly and take his pension,†said local attorney Alex Arreaza, who represents victims of the school tragedy. “Normally deputies  would not be allowed to retire under those circumstances, but in this case, Peterson was allowed to. This report gives a plausible reason,†he said.
According to the four-page report filed by Peterson, the victim, who was a freshman at the time, alleged that Israel, then the school’s starting quarterback, held him  down while another senior kicked him, grabbed his genitals and rammed a  baseball bat between his buttocks, simulating rape.
People familiar with the case say Peterson could have referred Israel for felony charges, but reduced the crime to “simple  battery,†making him eligible for a leniency program requiring no arrest. “The school district’s disciplinary matrix requires no law  enforcement action required regarding the incident,†the deputy wrote.
“A child was sexually assaulted and Peterson reduced the charges to fit a matrix and report it as information. This allowed the  deputy to put it away and not do anything,†said Arreaza, who is suing both Israel and Peterson on behalf of Anthony Borges, a  Stoneman Douglas student who survived the massacre, despite being shot five times...
Excerpt: Much more at link
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/12/31/the_sheriff_the_sheriffs_son_and_the_coward_of_broward.html?fbclid=IwAR2Yh08G_to61J0_ZOJd_1TewVDl6fksLWRe_J01PULp7ffRoAN1DbLe60c
