MOORE — PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Eleven members of the Seneca (Mo.) High School football team have been charged with a total of 39 counts of felony aggravated battery and five misdemeanors stemming from a hazing incident last month at a football camp at Pittsburg State University.
Crawford County Attorney Michael Gayoso said 11 of the players are being charged as juveniles. One player is being charged as an adult.
Eight of the players are charged with felonies. Three are charged with a single misdemeanor count of battery.
Gayoso’s office filed the charges in Crawford County District Court on Monday.
At least 50 members of the Seneca football team participated in a football camp at PSU from June 9 to June 11. Seneca football coaches were serving as chaperones for the team, who stayed overnight at a dormitory at PSU.
PSU police chief Mike McCracken said his office found that 17 players - mostly underclassmen - were apparently beaten with plastic curtain rods on June 10. Some of the players also placed their genitals on the faces of the underclassmen as part of the hazing.
McCracken said his officers interviewed more than 50 Seneca students who attended the camp.
Seneca Superintendent Rick Cook said he had no comment about the criminal charges. He said the district has conducted its own investigation and handed out punishments to an undisclosed number of students, based on the district’s anti-hazing policy.
“Our investigations yielded punishments and some of the parents requested appeal hearings,” Cook said.
