Four football players at a San Diego high school faced serious charges of sexual assault in the latest act of a disturbing event which reportedly started with horseplay and culminated in a dangerous act of sexual abuse.
As reported by San Diego ABC affiliate 10 News and NBC San Diego, among other sources, four San Diego (Calif.) Castle Park High students find their future in serious jeopardy after facing sexual assault charges connected to an attack on a fellow teammate in October. According to 10 News, the four players in question started a game of keep away from another student, but eventually forced the teammate in question to shove a pencil up his rectum.
While the unquestioned act of hazing landed the players in hot water and led to the cancellation of the team's first football game following the incident, the initial comments by Castle Park principal Virginia Sandoval-Johnson called the incident a simple example of "horseplay that went too far."
Understandably, that minimalization of the seriousness of the hazing caused an uproar among other Castle Park students and parents, who were quick to condemn the principal both for her comments and the fact that -- according to 10 News -- at least one of the students involved received only a single day suspension from school.
"If what I heard happened is right, it's not horseplay; it's something totally different," said Victor Martinez, whose children attend Castle Park, told 10 News.
Whether the students involved will be found guilty of hazing or not remains to be seen, but the official charges moved the case closer to a conclusion, as disturbing as it may be.
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