Antigay Slur Carved on Student

GREENFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Two prep school students were charged with a hate crime Wednesday for allegedly carving an antigay slur into another student's back because he liked to listen to the British rock band Queen.

Jonathan Shapiro, 18, and Matthew Rogers, 20, allegedly used a pocket knife to cut "HOMO'' into the back of a 17-year-old student at the Northfield Mount Hermon School.

"There was apparently a disagreement over the style of music he liked,'' said Gill Police Chief David Hastings. "Rogers called it a gay band.''

Hastings described the wounds as "deep enough to draw blood.''

"When I saw them they were three days old and they were still very visible,'' he said. "The letters were 4- to 5-inches high and ran all the way across his back.''

The victim, a junior, did not require hospitalization, and initially kept quiet about the May 27 incident. He has since left school and returned to his family, Hastings said.

Shapiro, of Keene, N.H., and Rogers, of Franklin, Tenn., pleaded innocent to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to maim and assault with intent to intimidate resulting in bodily harm.

The third charge made the incident a hate crime, which would require the suspects to undergo counseling and diversity training if convicted.

Each suspect faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted. Both have been released on bail. Rogers had accepted an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.

"Once we are able to verify the charges we will have to reconsider the appointment,'' said Karen Myers, an academy spokeswoman.

Northfield Mount Hermon, a co-educational school, has 1,139 students.

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