PHILADELPHIA: Three High School Football Players Charged With Broomstick Assault On “No Gay Thursday”

Philly.com reports:

The football players at Conestoga High School had a nickname for the rituals they performed each week, according to prosecutors. No-Gay Thursday. Some players avoided the locker room that day, when players considered certain sexual behavior permissible.

The hazing at the elite Chester County public school, routinely ranked near the top academically in national ratings, escalated into assault one day last fall, authorities said Friday.

Three seniors, including a team captain, grabbed a freshman they didn’t like, who was trying to leave the locker room during a hazing ritual. Two held him down, while the third penetrated his rectum with a broom handle, officials said.

“That’s over 400 pounds of senior holding down this freshman,” said Thomas P. Hogan, the Chester County district attorney, adding that the victim was 5-foot-7 and weighed about 160 pounds.

Police charged the three seniors, all 17 at the time, as juveniles with assault, unlawful restraint, making terroristic threats, and related offenses.

Hogan said the three were not charged with a sexual offense because “from our perspective, it’s a physical assault and not a sex crime.” He added that the decision was made after consulting with the victim and his family.