A Pennsylvania high school football program has been sidelined as four former coaches and six players face criminal charges tied to hazing. The 10 individuals from Cheltenham High were charged after a grand jury found a 15-year-old player was twice assaulted in the locker room during 2025 preseason, prosecutors say. The allegations include players restraining the teen while another poked at his buttocks with a broomstick, and a later attack involving a broomstick and kicks and stomps with cleats, reports ABC News. Prosecutors say players filmed the first assault, during which a person was heard chanting, "Broomstick him."
No coaches were present during the incidents, but prosecutors say the teen told volunteer coach Ralph Burnley about the second assault on the day it occurred. Burnley alerted head coach Terence Tolbert, associate head coach Darian "DJ" McFadden, and assistant coach Benjamin Johnson III, but all four chose not to alert parents or administrators, instead discussing in texts how to keep the matter quiet to avoid jeopardizing the season, prosecutors say, per WHYY. Some coaches later claimed the players were just goofing around, according to prosecutors. McFadden publicly asserted that nothing happened, though the teen was ultimately diagnosed with a penis injury, per CBS News. The charges range from child endangerment to aggravated assault and hazing; the school district has shut down the program for two seasons.
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