Update Oct. 13, 2014: Seven students have been arrested and are facing sex-crime charges related to hazing on the football team. Three have been charged with aggravated sexual assault, criminal restraint, hazing and other crimes, reports Yahoo News. The others have been charged with aggravated criminal sexual contact and other crimes. All have been suspended from school. Due to the severity of the charges, the superintendent might cancel the program altogether.
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On Monday night, Superintendent Richard Labbe said that the Sayreville War Memorial High School football season has been cancelled due to the investigation of hazing allegations.
The decision to cancel the season was made after a two hour-long meeting with Labbe and parents of football players. The cancellation will affect the freshmen, junior varsity and varsity football teams, reports nj.com/.
The Sayreville Police Department and Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office are leading the investigations. Based on initial findings, there was enough evidence “to substantiate there were incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level, and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated and in general accepted,” Labbe said after the meeting.
A parent says the hazing was sexually graphic in nature and happened nearly every day in the locker room this fall, reports CBS Sports. The victims were freshmen, and the perpetratrators were upperclassmen, who the parent says inserted their fingers into the victims’ rectums.
Labbe did not announce the names of victims and perpetrators. He said that if charges are filed against any alleged perpetrators, punishment will be determined.
