A high school football team in Pennsylvania is embroiled in a hazing scandal after a 15-year-old player was allegedly assaulted by teammates on two separate occasions in 2025. The incidents, which occurred on August 15 and September 3, 2025, involved the use of a broomstick to poke the victim’s buttocks and players holding him down and kicking or stomping on him.

Charges Filed

Ten members of the team, including several coaches, face charges in connection with the alleged hazing. Isaiah Simpson, 18, was charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and related charges. Another football player, Josiah Peeler, 18, was charged with false swearing. Four other football players were charged, but their names were not released as they are juveniles.

Volunteer coach Ralph Burnley, 60, gave the victim a ride home after practice when he learned that the player was injured in his genital area. Burnley then called head coach Terence Tolbert, 55, and told him what happened. Text messages between coaches followed that call, leading to a group call with the victim. Assistant coach Darian ‘DJ’ McFadden, 42, and Tolbert allegedly told the victim the matter would be handled and asked him not to tell his mother about the incident.

The coaches were hit with charges of conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child and endangering the welfare of a child. The victim’s mother learned of the second alleged attack shortly afterward from a relative who had heard about it from other parents. She then took the victim to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a contusion to his penis.

Aftermath

High school administrators learned of the alleged hazing through an anonymous reporting app, called police, and then canceled the football team’s season. Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said, ‘These assaults on a football player were not the typical goofing around by teammates. These were crimes.’ 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.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.