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The Middletown Area school district began investigating a hazing that happened on August 11, 2022—after a cellphone video film by high school football players was shared on social media— but on Wednesday, August 24, the school announced at least one more video.
Both videos show incidents of hazing happening in the "high school turf room for heat acclimation practice sessions," Dr. Chelton Hunter, Superintendent of Schools for the Middletown Area School District says.
The first video showed a group of students is shown "restraining two of their teammates and using a muscle therapy gun and another piece of athletic equipment to poke the buttock areas of the students who were on the ground," Dr. Hunter details.
But it was noted that the abused children were "fully clothed" and "It did not appear that any student's body was physically penetrated," as Hunter stated in a letter to "parents/guardians" on Monday, August 22.
The details of the additional video(s) were not released, although Hunter says, "this video demonstrates that this hazing was much more widespread, and involved many more students, than we had previously known."
"In light of this, we have made the decision to cancel the 2022 football season," he says.
The new video has been shared with law enforcement officials and Hunter says the school is continuing "to work to complete our own investigation."
"Any students found to have participated in this incident will be disciplined in accordance with our student code of conduct and hazing policy. Any staff members who were found to have ignored this kind of hazing will also face disciplinary action," he added.
Some of the players involved in the initial video of sexual hazing were identified on August 12, they were removed from the football team pending the outcome of the investigation and the completion of the student discipline process." And the head coach resigned on August 15, as stated in the letter.
The Lower Swatara Township police continue to investigate this incident.
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