PARLIN, N.J. (AP) – Seven students were charged with sex crimes in connection with a series of assaults amid an investigation into hazing by a high school football team, which already led to the cancellation of the rest of the season, authorities said.
Six of the seven students, ranging in age from 15 to 17, were arrested Friday night, and the seventh was being sought, police and prosecutors said.
The group attacked four students at Sayreville War Memorial High School, a regional football power, on four separate occasions between Sept. 19 and Sept. 29, authorities said. Their investigation found that the students held other teens against their will and improperly touched them in a sexual manner. One of the victims was kicked during an attack, authorities 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.
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.