Catholic football team banned over assault - Nation - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Nov 15, 2002 by Gill Donovan

The football team at a Catholic high school in Pittsburgh has been banned from participating in league playoffs over an alleged assault of a former player by teammates and failure by other players who saw it to stop it. Officials said some members of the Central Catholic High School football team had witnessed what occurred, refused to stop it and failed to divulge information about it to school officials who were investigating the incident.

"Due to the severity of this situation, the school administration feels that it must make a strong statement that this type of action will not be tolerated," said Christian Br. Richard Grzeskiewicz, school principal, in an Oct. 29 statement. Two of the school's football players were arrested by police Oct. 24 for sexually assaulting a former teammate in the school's locker room Aug. 15 in what has been described as a hazing incident.

Fr. Kris Stubna, diocesan secretary for education, said that school officials investigated the incident when they were made aware of it in August but "were unable to find any corroboration or verification of the allegations." At that point, he said, the parents of the student who brought the accusation filed a criminal complaint and "school administrators cooperated fully with police."

Briefs, gathered from news services, correspondents and staff, are compiled and edited by Gill Donovan.