Thursday, September 15, 2016

High School Hazing Case Will Require "Healing Process" For Entire Town, Police Chief Warns

Dos Palos high school football team.

Twitter: @DPHS_Football

The police chief of a small town in California is warning that the details of a high school football hazing case that has already led to three student arrests will likely shock the entire community when they're made public.

“When some of these details become public, I think there’s going to be a healing process needed for the whole community,” Dos Palos Police Chief Barry Mann told the Merced Sun-Star.

Three players from Dos Palos High School varsity football team — two of them17 years old boys, the other 16 — were arrested Tuesday in what police are calling a "hazing investigation."

Mann provided few specifics on the investigation, but would not rule out additional arrests. But in an interview with the Sun-Star, he warned that when details do emerge on the "very serious" case, the community will likely need to come together and heal.

"When some of these details become public, I think there’s going to be a healing process needed for the whole community," Mann told the paper.

When asked if the case involved criminal sexual activity, the Mann would neither confirm nor deny that possibility.

Police told KMPH there are "one or more victims."

"We are going to leave nothing unturned to make sure that any victim out there gets the proper service they need, and the chance for redress," Mann told the station.

On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that Mann said he is "fearful" that the scandal will grow beyond the alleged incident that led to the three arrests.

The Merced County District Attorney's Office also confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it is involved in the case.

"The people that have been arrested are juveniles," a spokesperson for the office said. "As such, we will not be commenting on this case."

Dos Palos’ football team is scheduled to play its rival Los Banos on Friday. School officials told KMPH it is unlikely that the three students arrested so far in connection with the investigation will play.



from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2d3LKoT

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