Pennsylvania high school football coaches, players charged in vicious hazing of teammate, who was stomped, prodded with a broomstick

Ten members of a Pennsylvania high school football team, including four of its coaches, have been charged in a brutal hazing scandal that led to the cancelation of the season after a player was stomped with cleats and prodded in the buttocks with a broomstick.The players and coaches from the Cheltenham High School allegedly assaulted their 15-year-old teammate in the locker room during two separate incidents in 2025, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday.The first alleged incident was recorded by two juvenile players on Aug.

15, 2025, and shared with teammates and other students during the fall semester, according to prosecutors.While the team changed after practice, the shocking footage showed several players holding their sophomore teammate down while another player used a broomstick to poke at the boy’s buttocks, according to a grand jury filing. Multiple witnesses saw several players, including Isaiah Simpson, 18, kicking or stopping on the victim during a second incident on Sept.3, 2025.The same juvenile from the first incident again used a broomstick to poke at his butt.The victim told investigators that he was wearing football equipment and had curled up in a ball to protect his head while he was being punched, kicked and stomped in the head and groin with cleats by the crew of teammates.He also said the group was trying to “poke him in the butt with a broomstick,” and said the broomstick did not go “in” but made contact with his butt cheek over his shorts, prosecutors said.Though no coaches were in the locker room when the hazing attack unfolded, four coaches learned about the second incident shortly after.

Volunteer coach Ralph Burnley, 60, was giving the victim a ride home following practice, when the teen told him he’d been “jumped” and had injured his genital area — prompting Burnley to call head coach Terence Tolbert, 55.That call led to several text messages between coaches and then a group phon...