Five Junior Varsity Football Players Charged With Rape in Broomstick Hazing Ritual

The football players were charged after allegedly hazing teammates with a broomstick.

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Five junior varsity football players in Maryland have been charged in a sexual assault case involving a locker room hazing incident, according to the Montgomery County Police Department and The Washington Post.

Three juvenile males were charged with two counts of second-degree rape and two counts of attempted second-degree rape. An additional juvenile male was charged with three counts of second-degree rape and another with one count of attempted second-degree rape, the police confirmed.

The five suspects and four victims are all students at Damascus High School, where the incident took place on Oct. 31.

According to the Post, which obtained a copy of the police report, members of the football team were attacked by teammates in the locker room as part of a hazing ritual involving a broomstick. After the lights went off, one player could be heard yelling, "Stop, stop, stop." Another player was attacked shortly after the incident. Two other players were pinned down to the ground but managed to get away.

Detectives reported that a suspect alleged that the broomstick ritual "went back many years," while another said the broom was stored in the locker room, reports the Post.

Montgomery school officials told the Post that they were unaware of a broomstick ritual in the football program.