Charges dropped in Warren De La Salle broomstick hazing case
Broomstick #Broomstick
(WWJ) Misdemeanor assault charges have been dropped against seven teens accused of hazing fellow members of the football team at De La Salle Collegiate, an all-boys school in Warren.
St. Clair County Prosecutor Mike Wendling says they met several conditions, including participation in an anti-bullying program and writing apology letters to victims.
In the fall of 2019, an investigation by Warren police determined that football players used broomsticks in a sexual manner to taunt other players in the locker room as part of a hazing ritual.
Wendling said there were lot of rumors circulating about the scandal; some of which were untrue.
“There was never a situation that we were able to determine that the victims were unclothed,” Wendling told WWJ’s Sandra McNeill. “There wasn’t any penetration, anything like that. It was just an assault, like putting your hands in a harmful or offensive manner on another person.”
The school acknowledged that some type of hazing occurred, and took the extraordinary step of ending the two-time defending state champion team’s season — forfeiting on the eve of a playoff game.
Wendling said hazing had been going on at the school for quite a while, but was not addressed by school officials until these allegations were made public.
“There were a lot of allegations in the case about things that had happened over an extended period of time.” Wendling said. “We charged only one incident. We investigated several, so there were multiple victim alleged throughout the case.”
“The allegations were that it had gone on for a long period of time,” he added,” and not just with these defendants.”
If the case had gone forward each student faced up to 93 days in jail, up to two years probation, restitution and fines if convicted.
Five of the teens charged are are now in college.
The case was handled by the St. Clair County Prosecutor’s Office due to a potential conflict of interest in Macomb County.