At least four football coaches and several players at a Pennsylvania high school have been charged in a brutal hazing scandal.
The charges resulted from two separate incidents in 2025 at Cheltenham High School in Montgomery County wherein players and coaches assaulted a 15-year-old teammate, stomping him with their cleats and prodding him with a broomstick in the locker room, per the New York Post.
The first alleged incident was recorded by two juvenile players on Aug. 15, 2025, and shared with teammates and other students during the fall semester, according to prosecutors.
While the team changed after practice, the shocking footage showed several players holding their sophomore teammate down while another player used a broomstick to poke at the boy’s buttocks, according to a grand jury filing.
Multiple witnesses saw several players, including Isaiah Simpson, 18, kicking or stomping on the victim during a second incident on Sept. 3, 2025. The same juvenile from the first incident again used a broomstick to poke at his butt.
Investigators revealed that the alleged victim had to curl up into a ball to protect his head as the players stomped and kicked him mercilessly with their cleats. No coaches were present during the incident, but they allegedly moved to cover it up from the boy’s mother while addressing it with the team privately. All four have now been charged with conspiracy to endanger a minor. At least two players were 18 at the time and have been charged with assault, while the other four were juveniles.
“These assaults on a football player were not the typical goofing around by teammates. These were crimes,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement.
“Numerous witnesses, many reluctant to share what they saw and knew, testified about what occurred in the Cheltenham High School locker room on these two occasions and testified about actions taken by some of the football coaches after the assaults,” Steele continued.
