Alleged details about a reported series of hazing incidents within a New Jersey high school football program emerged Wednesday, and they are nothing short of disturbing.
NJ.com published a report using as a source one of the parents of a player at Sayreville War Memorial High School who claims to be a victim of the hazing. He told the website that the incidents would first start with a scream from a senior player at the school.
In the darkness, a freshman football player would be pinned to the locker-room floor, his arms and feet held down by multiple upperclassmen. Then, the victim would be lifted to his feet while a finger was forced into his rectum. Sometimes, the same finger was then shoved into the freshman player’s mouth.
"(For) 10 seconds, the lights would go off and they would grab a freshman and they would go on," the parent said. "Right on the floor. ... It was happening every day. They would get the freshmen."
The parent requested anonymity, the paper said, because he feared retribution. Officials have refused to release specifics on the case.
These incidents were part of what led to a criminal investigation by county and local police. That led to the football season being canceled, despite outrage from some players and parents.
In deciding to end the season, Superintendent Richard Labbe said "incidences of harassment, intimidation and bullying as constituted by the definition within the anti-bullying statute 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."
When the website reached out to Labbe about these specific charges, he declined comment.
Sayreville football coach George Najjar also refused to comment.
The parent of the player allegedly victimized refuses to believe the coaching staff wasn't aware of what was ongoing.
He told NJ.com he can't "understand how none of the coaches were aware of it. As a coach, you know what's going on in your clubhouse. You know what's going on in the locker room."
Sayreville sits next to the Raritan River and just inland from the Raritan Bay, site of devastating flooding from Sandy in October 2012. The town was one of those targeted by the state for a buyout program, and demolitions began earlier this year to improve flood protection.
NJ.com published a report using as a source one of the parents of a player at Sayreville War Memorial High School who claims to be a victim of the hazing. He told the website that the incidents would first start with a scream from a senior player at the school.
In the darkness, a freshman football player would be pinned to the locker-room floor, his arms and feet held down by multiple upperclassmen. Then, the victim would be lifted to his feet while a finger was forced into his rectum. Sometimes, the same finger was then shoved into the freshman player’s mouth.
"(For) 10 seconds, the lights would go off and they would grab a freshman and they would go on," the parent said. "Right on the floor. ... It was happening every day. They would get the freshmen."
The parent requested anonymity, the paper said, because he feared retribution. Officials have refused to release specifics on the case.
These incidents were part of what led to a criminal investigation by county and local police. That led to the football season being canceled, despite outrage from some players and parents.
In deciding to end the season, Superintendent Richard Labbe said "incidences of harassment, intimidation and bullying as constituted by the definition within the anti-bullying statute 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."
When the website reached out to Labbe about these specific charges, he declined comment.
Sayreville football coach George Najjar also refused to comment.
The parent of the player allegedly victimized refuses to believe the coaching staff wasn't aware of what was ongoing.
He told NJ.com he can't "understand how none of the coaches were aware of it. As a coach, you know what's going on in your clubhouse. You know what's going on in the locker room."
Sayreville sits next to the Raritan River and just inland from the Raritan Bay, site of devastating flooding from Sandy in October 2012. The town was one of those targeted by the state for a buyout program, and demolitions began earlier this year to improve flood protection.
