New Jersey football hazing that allegedly included sexual assault and led to the cancellation of the Sayreville High School team's season has resulted in the arrest and detention of six teenagers while a seventh one is being sought.
The arrested teenagers, ages 15 to 17, are being held pending a family court hearing to determine if they should be released to their parents or continued to be held in juvenile detention, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Sayreville Police Chief John Zebrowski,
according to WCBS-TV.
In a statement on the
Sayreville Public Schools website, Superintendent Richard Labbe said the school district has launched its own investigation and he defended his decision to cancel the football season.
"As should be evident by now, the Sayreville Board of Education takes this matter extremely seriously and thus will continue to make the safety and welfare of our students, particularly the victims of these horrendous alleged acts, our highest priority," said Labbe.
"Furthermore, we will continue to cooperate fully with the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office with respect to its ongoing investigation of the Sayreville War Memorial High School football program. In the ensuing days, weeks and months, we will come together as a school district and greater community to harness the strength required to support the young men who may have been victimized and then to begin the healing process for our beloved community," Labbe's statement said.
One parent gave graphic detail to
NJ Advance Media about the hazing episodes, saying that in one incident four older members of the football team restrained a freshman while two other acted as a lookout. The final attacker, the parent said, would then sexually assault the freshman.
"I just think that based upon everything that has occurred, I just need to make sure that we recognize what football is," Labbe told NJ Advance Media. "It's just a game. And as soon as it becomes more than just a game, it opens up to situations like this."
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