North Texas high school football players face felony charges in alleged locker room hazing
Four teenage boys face felony charges after allegedly hazing a football teammate in their school's locker room, police say.
The boys, all students at Boyd High School in Wise County, are charged with injury to a child with bodily injury and unlawful restraint for the incident. On Thursday, the Boyd Police Department released the arrest warrants for two of the boys, who are 17 years old and being charged as adults.
According to sworn statements from investigators, the 14-year-old victim was targeted on the afternoon of Sept. 3. A 16-year-old sophomore carried him from the school's weight room into the varsity boys' locker room, after which a 15-year-old sophomore dragged him further into the locker room. From there, a 17-year-old boy allegedly dragged the screaming victim by the ankles into a dark shower area.
There, a second 17-year-old boy and another boy who the victim could not see allegedly pulled off the victim's shirt and shorts and attempted to remove his underwear. While the victim was being held down, the 17-year-old boy allegedly pulled down his own pants and underwear and sat on the victim's chest.
According to the warrant, the victim was only able to escape when a coach heard the commotion, entered the locker room and told the boys to settle down.
The incident left the victim with bruises on his back and shoulders, and pain in his wrist and hand that he broke over the summer.
After the incident, police said the victim met with most of the coaching staff. One coach, who police did not identify, allegedly told the victim that "this situation needed to be handled in the locker room and didn't need to be reported further up," police said. Two of the coaches reported it to the school principal that night, and the victim told his parents, who contacted the principal the following morning.
Boyd ISD posted a statement on its Facebook page on Thursday, saying, "The district also has an ongoing investigation under a potential Title IX violation with this incident. Regulations under this law require us to complete the investigation prior to assigning any discipline in the manner. The district is taking the issue seriously and we expect the Title IX process to be completed soon, and we will proceed with appropriate actions. Since this involves confidential student information no other information can be released by the district."
