NW Indiana boy allegedly sexually assaulted inside HS locker room
CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Two students have been expelled from a Hammond, Indiana high school following an alleged sexual assault.
Hammond police said they were called to Clark High School in Whiting on February 5 by the principal who was reporting a student was assaulted.
The victim, a freshman boy, told police it was part of a soccer team initiation. He says he and his soccer teammates went to the locker room to change clothes for practice. The victim told police he then heard someone yell "get him" and he was forced to the ground where he was sexually assaulted five times, and then forced into the shower.
The victim went on to explain that someone tried to help him, but they were overpowered.
School officials told FOX 32 it was a friend of the victim who came forward about the alleged incident.
No one has been charged, but school officials confirm two upperclassmen students have been expelled because of the incident and that the victim no longer attends high school there.
School Superintendent Dr. Walter Watkins says he’s never heard of this kind of hazing.
“It’s not a very pleasant thing to think of that young people are being abused out there and we don't know about it - by their peers," said Dr. Watkins.
School officials said they've interviewed 20 students and the coach, who was not present during the alleged attack.
“There is a little bit of down time between going to the locker room going out to practice with the coach," explained Esther Goodes, who's the Executive Director of Secondary Schools.
The victim told police he was warned the soccer team may do something like this and that this is not the first time it's happened.
"I just hope that people young people in Hammond learn from this,” said the superintendent.
The school has turned over all interviews and surveillance images from inside the school to Hammond police who are investigating.
They declined to comment about the case.