Remember the story from this summer about the California soccer players at La Puente High School who allegedly had a “pole tradition” as part of their hazing of new players? Looks like several former  members of the team might be on their way to prison where they could be able to participate in their own “pole tradition.”

And we’re not talking about one or two minor charges that will be plea bargained away: a couple of the accused have been hit with 10 charges each, based on what police are describing as four separate incidents with different victims. According to the LA Times:

Two of the boys, both 17, were charged with 10 counts each: one felony count of sexual penetration with a foreign object, one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and four misdemeanor counts of hazing. A 16-year-old boy was charged with six counts: felony sexual penetration with a foreign object, felony assault with a deadly weapon, and two misdemeanor counts each of hazing and sexual battery.

Without going into a lot of details, the teens are accused of either luring, or having the boys soccer coach send, victims to some kind of equipment room where a group of upperclassmen from the team waited with a small, sharpened pole (some early reports were calling it a javelin) which was they then attempted to insert into the new player’s rectum.

One 17-year-old boy was “brutally assaulted” in May after he entered the storage room to return some equipment, the claim alleges. He was attacked by varsity team members who carried a long pole with a sharp end while other players recorded the attack with their cellphones.

In addition to the charges against the alleged attackers, parents of the victims have said they will file a lawsuit against the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District claiming the hazing had been going on for years. NOTE TO SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS: This will be you soon if you have hazing “traditions” at your school that you allow to continue.

Is this a case of some teen-aged boys just messing around, or are there darker motives behind this incident? The Mid-South school board in Wynne, Arkansas will have to sort that out, but needless to say it’s an ugly incident.

A hazing incident possibly involving a noose is being brought up in front of a Mid-South school board.  School leaders in Wynne, Arkansas are talking about whether to expel two junior varsity football players. Family members of a 14-year-old African-American JV football player claim a noose was placed around his neck in the locker room last week by white students. The alleged incident is bringing unwanted attention to the close knit community and it resulted in a special school board meeting Wednesday night.

“I plan on making a public statement after the expulsion hearings,” said Superintendent Carl Easley. “It’s talking about the incident that occurred on September 24.”  School leaders acknowledge that some sort of hazing incident occurred but they have not gone into detail about it.

Source: KAIT 8