District Expels 6 Football Players After Alleged Hazing Incident
Six football players accused of sexually abusing at least three other students in a hazing ritual gone awry have been expelled from Yucca Valley High School.
The board of the Morongo Unified School District announced the expulsions after a six-hour closed session Wednesday.
Four of the students will be allowed to return to district classes March 5, provided they meet scholastic and counseling guidelines set by the board. The two others will be allowed to return in June.
The board recommended that the students take classes at non-district schools during the terms of their expulsions.
Merle Chapman, a Palm Springs attorney representing the boys, said he has appealed the expulsions to the San Bernardino County Office of Education and expects a hearing to be held in February.
The six are accused of conspiracy, rape with a foreign object, sexual battery and false imprisonment. Police say they assaulted underclassmen with a stick in the team’s locker room.
The alleged assaults occurred in August and October and the investigation began Oct. 27, after a parent reported the hazing.
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