Trivino Pleads Guilty to Assault and Battery, Trespassing
Former hockey star receives two years of probation
Former BU hockey star Corey Trivino (MET’12) (right) pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery and one count of trespassing yesterday in Brighton District Court and will serve two years of probation. Photo courtesy of Josh Reynolds for the Boston Globe/Pool
Former BU hockey star Corey Trivino pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and battery and one count of trespassing yesterday in Brighton District Court, nearly eight months after University police arrested him for entering the dorm room of a female student and groping her against her will.
With his guilty plea, Trivino (MET’12) received two years of probation and agreed to random alcohol testing, attendance at weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, a psychiatric evaluation, and continuation of an alcohol treatment program he’s currently enrolled in near Toronto, Canada—his hometown.
Dressed in a black suit and purple shirt, Trivino stared straight ahead throughout the court proceeding and later stood to apologize to the victim, sitting three rows behind him surrounded by a group of family and friends. “I just wanted you to know that I’m really, truly sorry,” he told her, never turning his gaze toward the young woman.
Trivino originally faced seven charges, but prosecutors dropped the most serious felony, assault with intent to commit rape, in March and yesterday decided not to pursue three of the charges, two counts of breaking and entering and one count of indecent assault and battery. The three remaining charges were reduced to lesser felonies.
According to Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Gloriann Moroney, Trivino was “highly intoxicated” the night of December 11, 2011, when he followed the victim to her dorm room and entered without her consent. While there, he repeatedly fondled her against her will, at one point closing the door, and failed to leave when she asked him to.
The months since that night have been filled with multiple court appearances for Trivino, who has been accompanied on each occasion by his mother and father. Yesterday they were joined by rows of family and friends.
At her own request, the victim stood before the court and read aloud a prepared victim impact statement that lasted several minutes—not once making eye contact with Trivino, who appeared emotionless as she spoke.
“This experience has affected every ounce of my being,” she said, and because of it “my entire world fell apart.” She described the nightmares she’s experienced, counseling she’s received, friends lost, and her relationship with her now-estranged sister, as well as missed hours of school and work and other financial burdens she encountered as a direct result of Trivino’s actions. Her voice shook with emotion as she told of her inability to look men directly in the eye anymore, and when she added, “I think I see Corey all the time when I’m in this city.”
The victim asked Judge Patricia Bernstein to issue a decision that would “put a price on the pain and suffering I’ve experienced.” And she said that while yesterday meant an end to months of legal proceedings, “unfortunately for me there is no ending because the mind does not forget. I did nothing wrong to bring this situation on myself.”
Trivino’s attorney, Conrad J. Bletzer, Jr., said his client has since enrolled in an alcohol treatment program and has undergone a full psychiatric assessment. The hockey player also completed volunteer service and has given talks at local high schools about the dangers of alcohol abuse.
Bletzer originally requested that Trivino be granted unsupervised probation for the first two months, considering that he would be traveling in late August to a National Hockey League training camp and could be drafted by an NHL team in early October. Bletzer said his client could fulfill the terms of the probation by mail and phone and have the NHL conduct alcohol tests and forward them to the probation department during that period.
Trivino had been drafted by the New York Islanders in 2008, but the team chose not to invite him to its training camp, according to a report on Twitter from Newsday’s Islanders reporter Arthur Staple. The Islanders did not return calls for comment.
Bernstein refused Bletzer’s request, saying, “There are some sketchy details here.” She acknowledged Trivino’s career aspirations, but said, “He also has an obligation here in this court to probation.” She then issued her decision: Trivino must report to Brighton District Court for probation within the next 45 days, submit to weekly alcohol tests, and make weekly calls to his probation officer. As the former Terrier center agreed, behind him his mother suppressed sobs.
Outside the courtroom after the proceedings, Bletzer would say only, “I don’t feel he had special treatment.”
In early June, prosecutors dropped rape charges against Trivino’s former teammate Max Nicastro (CGS’11, MET’13), who had been arrested last February in an incident involving a female student.
The charges against the two men led President Robert A. Brown to name a task force to investigate the culture of the men’s hockey team. The task force is to report later this summer.
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