PARLIN, N.J. (AP) – Seven students were charged with sex crimes Friday night after an investigation into hazing on a high school football team that has cancelled the rest of its season found they held other children against their will and improperly touched them, prosecutor said.
Three of the students were charged with aggravated sexual assault, criminal restraint, hazing and other crimes for an act of sexual penetration upon one of the children, Middlesex County prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said. The four other students were charged with aggravated criminal sexual contact and other crimes for what happened at Sayreville War Memorial High School, a regional football power.
Six of the seven students, ranging in age from 15 to 17, were arrested Friday night and the seventh was being sought, prosecutors said. Those in custody were awaiting a Family Court decision on whether they would be held at a juvenile detention facility or be released to their families. Their names weren’t released because of their ages.
The group attacked four students between Sept. 19 and Sept. 29 and one of the victims was kicked, prosecutors said.
As what would have been game time neared Friday evening, the lights at Sayreville War Memorial High football stadium stayed off and the field remained empty.