Attack happened on “No Gay” Thursdays
Last year, three Philadelphia high school football players accused by brutally using a broom handle to sexually assault and penetrate a freshman teammate.
According to online news reports, including Towleroad, the trio have plead guilty to menacing.
The attack took place on October 25, 2016 at Conestoga High School in Pennsylvania as part of a hazing ritual known as “No Gay Thursdays.”
Last year, Philly.com published the following:
During what members of the Conestoga High School team called a “No-Gay Thursday,” two of the players held down a freshman while a third penetrated the victim’s rectum with a broom handle, said District Attorney Tom Hogan.
Related: Man raped by college football teammates
“That’s over 400 pounds of senior holding down this freshman,” Hogan said, adding that the victim was 5-foot-7 and weighed about 160 pounds. Hogan said he was targeted because the three, all seniors, and one of them a team captain, took a dislike to him.
He said the three weren’t charged with sexual assault because under state law that would have required sexual intercourse.
“From our perspective, it’s a physical assault and not a sex crime,” he said.
Hogan said that “No Gay Thursdays” was a tradition in which behavior the team normally considered to be “gay” was considered “not gay” on Thursdays.
In a joint statement issued by Hogan and the lawyers for the three Conestoga High School seniors, attorneys suggest that the 14-year old did not suffer serious injuries when the senior players “briefly poked the victim with a broomstick in the leg”. No mention is made at all of the sodomy claims.
Reporting at Herald-Whig indicates that the victim, the District Attorney and the seniors “are in full agreement with this disposition.”
The released statement does not reveal how the three seniors were going to be punished. As a legal matter, this is considered a juvenile matter, meaning all records are sealed and no further comments will be made.
Related: Man brutally raped in prison by gang members
Head football coach John Vogan was initially suspended and then resigned following the attack. The varsity and junior varsity staff members were relieved of their duties through the football season.
The school's head football coach, John Vogan, initially was suspended and then later resigned following the attack. Varsity and junior varsity staff members were suspended of their duties through the remaining football season.
h/t: Towleroad
