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Hazing Scandal Divides Town

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The Associated Press

Published: September 24, 2008

LAS VEGAS, N.M. - It was shocking enough when six high school football players were accused of sodomizing six younger teammates with a broomstick during training camp. But the scandal was raised to a whole new level when the coaches were accused of turning a blind eye to the hazing.

Since then, Robertson High's head football coach and all five assistants have resigned, and prosecutors are considering charges against both adults and youngsters.

The incident has turned student against student in the town of 14,000, and subjected some of the school's athletes to lewd taunts from spectators.

"I'm very sad, so very sad for these young men," said Veronica Sanchez, a retiree who knows one of the victims and one of the accused. Her friends and family, she said, are split "kind of 50-50" on whether to blame the coaching staff or the older players.

The scandal unfolded at a four-day, mid-August preseason training camp in the mountains west of Las Vegas, a predominantly Hispanic, once-booming Old West town 60 miles from Santa Fe, now known for its stately Victorian homes.

According to state police reports, a group of juniors assaulted several younger teammates over two days, holding the victims down while a broomstick was forced into their rectums over their athletic shorts.

The alleged ringleader was expelled from school. The others were suspended through the end of the school year. The six victims returned to the team.

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