Police in Chandler, Arizona, have released a nearly 700-page report detailing the sexual abuse going on at Hamilton High School claiming that administrators knew about the football team’s “rape squad” but did nothing.
Three football players and three administrators have been charged in relation to the case. Two of the players are juveniles and have not been identified, while 17-year-old Nathaniel Thomas is being tried as an adult. Thomas has been accused of being the ringleader of the group.
In investigating the case, items were found in the administrative offices that made reference to the team’s “Toon Squad and Rape Squad”. Another statement suggested that the “incidents [have been] going on for years.”
The report detailed how freshman players were treated as “fresh meat” and were scared of the locker rooms, sometimes coming up with fake illnesses to avoid them entirely. Freshmen were often assaulted and then told, “welcome to varsity.” In the rocker rooms, players were described as hitting each other with their genitalia and even urinating on other players in the shower. One player ate feces on a dare.
The report detailed how the administration and coaches continued in willful ignorance, with one player recalling how a coach walked in at the end of an assault and berated the victim for being on the floor.
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According to the report, then-Athletic Director Shawn Rustad received an anonymous phone call claiming that the younger players were being harassed and was directed by then-Principal Ken James to look into it.
Rustad reportedly interviewed four players, including one who said that his clothes were removed while he was held down. The report said that Rustad didn’t tell the parents of any of the players he interviewed.
Rustad claimed to have contacted then-Coach Steve Belles to tell him to address the situation, but Belles denied having any knowledge of what was going on until a mother told a police officer at the school what was happening.
Victims and families have also come forward claiming to have been threatened and harassed if they didn’t stay “quiet.”
Thomas has been charged with sexual assault and multiple counts of molestation, kidnapping and aggravated assault involving alleged attacks on three people. The other two players have been charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault and assault.
