1 convicted, 1 sentenced in Great Bend swim team assault

One member of Great Bend High School’s swim team has been convicted and another sentenced in Ellsworth County in connection with an assault on a fellow member of the team in February, officials announced Friday.

A 17-year-old boy was convicted on May 31 of misdemeanor battery and is scheduled to be sentenced July 5, Ellsworth County Attorney Joe Shepack said in a statement.

A 16-year-old boy also charged in the case was sentenced Wednesday to a year of probation after previously being convicted of misdemeanor battery.

Shepack said what had previously been described as “an episode of teenage male athlete horseplay progressed (or degenerated) into several incidents of battery” upon a 14-year-old boy on Feb. 6 aboard a Great Bend school district bus following a meet in Salina.

There were 25 people on the bus at the time of the incidents, Shepack said.

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 3:16 PM with the headline "1 convicted, 1 sentenced in Great Bend swim team assault."