Report: Some boys fought off sexual hazing

LAS VEGAS, N. M. (KRQE) - Some Robertson High School football players were able to fight off sexual assaults at a preseason training camp where other boys were sodomized by older players, according to a newly released New Mexico State Police report.

The 102-page report concludes as many as half a dozen younger players were sodomized with a broom handle at the out-of-town camp last month.  Word of the alleged assaults circulated quickly, and State Police were waiting at Robertson when buses brought the team back from the camp.

Information in the report will be used by prosecutors to determine what if any criminal charges will be filed.

The allegations rocked the northeastern New Mexico community with its two separate school districts and deep support for high school sports.

"If you look at it there has always been tradition of little kinds of hazing," Jarrod Phillips, a former Robertson student, said.  "Nothing bad."

Page by page the report said a group of Robertson juniors initiated lower classmen at a football camp last month by sexually assaulting them with broomsticks.

The criminal reports names at least six potential victims.  One of them told investigators he was assaulted six times before the accused football players stopped.

"Nothing at Robertson every happened to me like that, and nothing to any of my friends to tell you the truth," Phillips said.

The report also quotes one of the alleged victims as saying he told coaches about the assault the next day.  A witness also told State Police a coach walked in on one of the alleged assaults.

"It's unclear what exactly they saw, but there were coaches that maybe stopped one of these assaults," state Department of Public Safety spokesman Peter Olson said.

Now an attorney representing some of the alleged victims is asking the accused be tried as adults.  Phillips said he believes the accused players should face criminal charges.

"They deserve it," he said.  "Those kids will be scared for the rest of their lives."

In addition to the victims named in the report other football players told police they fought off the alleged hazing attempt.  One player said he slept with his football helmet for the rest of camp.

It's up to the Santa Fe district attorney to decide if the accused will be charged criminally.  The district attorney in Las Vegas bowed own of the case citing conflicts of interest.

So far four of the accused students have been suspended from school while two are still awaiting hearings.  The Las Vegas City Schools also suspended the athletic director and the football coaching staff.

The director has since returned to work, but the coaches all resigned.

KRQE | Reporter:  Crystal Gutierrez | Web Producer:  Bill Diven

---

Previous coverage:  2:38 p.m. Sept. 11, 2008

LAS VEGAS , N.M. (KRQE) - Officials have released a 102-page report on their investigation into allegations of hazing at a high school football camp.

The report includes statements from victims and the accused, along with other students, teachers and coaches, explaining what happened at the mid-August camp that was supposed to be a bonding period for the Robertson High School football team.

The interviews gave graphic detail about alleged sexual assaults on several lowerclassmen.

One of the interviews states that three football players were allegedly assaulted with a broom handle over their clothes.

One of the victims told coaches about the incident on the same day of the assault, and, according to Peter Olson of the state Department of Public Safety, a coach may have been able to stop one assault.

None of the accused students has been arrested or criminally charged, but four students have been expelled from school for the remainder of the year.

Two other students are awaiting hearings with school officials about their futures in the school district.

The state Public Education Department's ethics board is looking at the school district's investigation regarding the Robertson coaches, who voluntarily resigned from their duties.

KRQE | Reporter: Crystal Gutierrez | Web Producer: Todd Dukart