High School Athlete Testifies Fund-Raiser Seduced Him

A Burbank High School football player testified Tuesday that fund-raiser Salle Dumm served him vodka and seduced him, saying, “Do this for your team.”

The victim, now 18, was a minor at the time of the July 1995, alleged encounter with Dumm, 51. She is on trial for allegedly engaging in unlawful sex with a minor and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The case shook the Burbank school district as criminal charges were filed against two football coaches and the president of the school board resigned after admitting that he was aware of the allegations but did not report them to authorities.

The defense contends that the youth took advantage of Dumm and that she lacked any criminal intent when they had sex.

On Tuesday, the prosecution wasted no time in presenting its account of the one-night stand.

“She admits they had sex,” Deputy Dist. Atty. David Vaughn said during opening statements before Pasadena Superior Court Judge Thomas W. Stoever. “The boy admits they had sex.”

The teenager testified that he drank three or four vodka and orange juice drinks, massaged Dumm’s neck and touched her breasts while socializing at her Burbank home on July 14, 1995.

Later in the evening, he testified that he found a note instructing him to go to the bedroom. There, he found the naked Dumm leaning against a bed, the youth testified.

Before they engaged in sex, Dumm told the boy softly to “Do this for your team,” the teenager testified.

Often during the testimony, Dumm scribbled notes or shook her head. At times, the teenager bit his lower lip or tugged on his shirt.

The prosecution alleges that as president of the Burbank Educational Foundation, Dumm had told the youth that in return for sex a contribution would be made to help the school football team, according to prosecutors.

Dumm was arrested in November after John Hazelton, the high school’s former head football coach, told school authorities about the alleged encounter.

The case led to the February resignation of then-Burbank school board President Joe Hooven, who admitted failing to report what he knew about the alleged encounter.

In addition, Hazelton and former assistant coach John Greaves were charged with misdemeanors because as school district employees they were required by state law to immediately report a case of suspected child abuse.

In May, Hazelton pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace and was ordered to serve three years of probation.