5 Wheaton College football players charged in hazing incident

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Tue Sep 19, 2017, 02:12 PM - Edit history (4)

Source: Chicago Daily Herald

updated: 9/19/2017 5:58 AM

5 Wheaton College football players charged in hazing incident

Christopher Placek

https://twitter.com/chrisplacek

Five Wheaton College football players face felony charges in connection with a 2016 hazing incident, officials confirmed Monday. ... James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Noah Spielman and Samuel TeBos were charged with aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint, according to the DuPage County state's attorney's office. ... A DuPage County judge signed arrest warrants Monday afternoon, setting bail for each at $50,000.

The five players are accused of hazing a 19-year-old freshman student on March 19, 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported. (1) ... According to records cited in the Tribune's report Monday night, the student was in his dorm room when he was tackled by the football players, his legs and wrists wrapped up in duct tape, and a pillow case put over his head. He was placed in the back seat of a teammate's vehicle, and as they drove, the players made offensive comments about Muslims, the report said.

At one point, they attempted to sexually assault him, but when told to stop, he was beaten, the report said. ... The student was left half-naked on a baseball diamond at an off-campus park, where another player was dumped 10 minutes later; the two were eventually driven back to campus by classmates, according to the report.

(1) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-football-hazing-met-20170918-story.html

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20170918/5-wheaton-college-football-players-charged-in-hazing-incident

---

I haven't heard of the Chicago Daily Herald, but the Washington Post used them as the source. I originally had the WaPo as the source, but I revised the OP.

This happened in 2016.

* * * * *

It turns out the Daily Herald picked up the story from the Chicago Tribune. Here's that link:

5 Wheaton College football players face felony charges in hazing incident

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-football-hazing-met-20170918-story.html

By Christy Gutowski and Stacy St. Clair
Chicago Tribune

Five Wheaton College football players face felony charges after being accused of a 2016 hazing incident in which a freshman teammate was restrained with duct tape, beaten and left half-naked with two torn shoulders on a baseball field.

A DuPage County judge signed arrest warrants and set $50,000 bonds against the players James Cooksey, Kyler Kregel, Benjamin Pettway, Noah Spielman and Samuel TeBos late Monday afternoon. Prosecutors charged the athletes with aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint.
....

Tribune reporter Kate Thayer and freelance reporter Clifford Ward contributed.

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Copyright 2017, Chicago Tribune

* * * * *

Evangelical college football players face arrest over hazing incident

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/09/19/evangelical-college-football-players-face-arrest-over-hazing-incident/

Evangelical college football players face arrest over hazing incident

By Kirkland An and Sarah Pulliam Bailey September 19 at 1:14 AM

Several football players at an evangelical college outside Chicago are facing arrest over actions that took place during the alleged hazing of a freshman teammate in March 2016, according to a stunning report published by the Chicago Tribune on Monday.

A DuPage County judge signed arrest warrants late Monday afternoon for five football players at Wheaton College who were charged with aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint, according to the Tribune.

The five players allegedly tackled and duct taped a freshman in his dorm before carrying him roughly to a vehicle, according to the Tribune, which said it obtained documents describing the victims statements to investigators after the Wheaton police department declined this year to release reports under the states Freedom of Information Act. As the football players transported the victim to an off-campus park, they played Middle Eastern music and uttered slurs against Muslims, according to the contents of the documents described by the Tribune. (All Wheaton students sign a required statement of faith espousing evangelical beliefs.)

The student suffered muscle tears in both shoulders, and has undergone multiple surgeries for his injuries, according to the Tribune. He reportedly left the school and is now attending a college in Indiana. ... College administrators learned about the incident shortly after it happened from coaches and other team members, according to a statement the school sent to The Post. It declined to share details of the investigation, citing federal student privacy protections. The statement said college leaders immediately launched an internal investigation and its trustees have launched a campuswide review of its current anti-hazing policy.
....

The story has been updated to clarify the circumstances around Larycia Hawkins leaving Wheaton College.

Sarah Pulliam Bailey is a religion reporter, covering how faith intersects with politics, culture and...everything. Follow @spulliam

* * * * *

From the comments:

Lee Rosenthall
9:18 AM EDT
According to other news accounts, they allegedly raped that student. Are we sure this wasn't really a hate crime?

From the Chicago Tribune: "The freshman told investigators that his teammates restrained him with more duct tape during the drive, pulled down his shorts and underwear, then repeatedly tried to insert an object into his rectum. After the freshman yelled at them to stop, he was beaten, he said."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-football-hazing-met-20170918-story.html

One of the accused is the "son of former NFL All-Pro linebacker Chris Spielman, who currently works as a football analyst for Fox Sports."

[exboyfil]

1. They went right on playing football

Three of the accused played in Wheaton College’s victory over Carthage College Saturday, and all were listed on the team roster as of Monday afternoon. The Division III program is ranked fourth in the country.

[gvstn]

11. Yes, BUT

"The school said it was 'deeply troubled' by the hazing incident"

So far, the students-athletes have had to perform 50 hours of community service AND write an essay concerning their behavior.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4899186/Five-college-football-players-charged-hazing-incident.html#ixzz4t8pFxnKT

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. This is the appalling bit - the college accepted it happened, and gave them a pathetic 'punishment'

for a major felony, and then covered it up.

This is a religious sexual assault scandal and cover-up. There should be lawsuits for millions to come from this, as well as prison sentences for the perpetrators.

[Stuart G]

13. Perhaps they played last Saturday...but that is the end of it ...for them...

These idiots have no clue,,what could happen to them
.....And I hope all five get time in the state prison......then these fellows will learn...

[exboyfil]

17. The accusations are bad and

if convicted they should go to jail.

My primary consideration is the college. If the police had enough evidence to charge them, then a finding within Wheaton's discipline system should have determined that they had committed these actions. At a minimum they should have been prevented from playing football (the hazing is directly related to football - no clearer example of an appropriate punishment that would also be a deterrent). They played an entire season last year, and started this season with the administration knowing what they had done.

[Stuart G]

20. Yes, you are correct...Why were they allowed to play this year??

The administration said OK......you did nothing, go on with your life....not our problem..

Now it is Wheaton's problem as this gets nationwide publicity....and the crooks face a trial and may go to jail.

[Laxman]

2. Wheaton College.....

for Christ and his Kingdom.....because this is what Jesus wanted them to do

According to records cited in the Tribune's report Monday night, the student was in his dorm room when he was tackled by the football players, his legs and wrists wrapped up in duct tape, and a pillow case put over his head. He was placed in the back seat of a teammate's vehicle, and as they drove, the players made offensive comments about Muslims, the report said.

At one point, they attempted to sexually assault him, but when told to stop, he was beaten, the report said.

The student was left half-naked on a baseball diamond at an off-campus park, where another player was dumped 10 minutes later; the two were eventually driven back to campus by classmates, according to the report.

...and the alma mater of Billy Graham and Denny Hastert (and David Young, one of Nixon's White House Plumbers)

It's actually a very good academic school, but never pass up a chance to tweak the values of the stridently "Christian" institutions that elevate themselves above the rest of us members of the riff raff.

[LittleGirl]

3. just awful eom

[lunasun]

4. Super fundie town with a super fundie school or three . Can you guess ? Dupage is a wealthy

Republican county outside of Chicago . This student then leaves for a school in Indiana ?? Whoa wrong turn IMO

[dogman]

5. Is it still home of the Speaker Hastert library?

[jmowreader]

24. They didn't name the library after him

They named their Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy after him...and after he went to prison, they renamed it to the Wheaton College Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy.

[blue-wave]

6. The Daily Herald is

a suburban paper, circulating in the north and west suburbs, it's been around for a while.

[CherokeeFiddle]

7. I used to live there

It was on recent that they allowed people to start dancing. Talk about lost in the dark ages

[Mz Pip]

8. Me, too.

I lived in Lombard.

Wheaton College is a serious fundie school. No dancing, no drinking. Can't imagine what their science classes look like.

[CherokeeFiddle]

9. Naperville

I am in Colorado and Giordano's is coming here! Am I happy? Is the pope Catholic!?

[Cadfael]

10. I live about 9 blocks away

From their football field. They only recently changed the team name from the "Crusaders" to the "Thunder". You should see this town on Sundays...I try not to grocery shop then.

[bitterross]

12. Oh, come now. Just boys being boys.

Have they trotted that out yet? It goes right along with "It's just locker room talk."

All those repressed fundies turn out to be the biggest perverts and perpetrators of violence.

[Stuart G]

14. I am assuming this is true:

From the Chicago Tribune:.. "The freshman told investigators that his teammates restrained him with more duct tape during the drive, pulled down his shorts and underwear, then repeatedly tried to insert an object into his rectum. After the freshman yelled at them to stop, he was beaten, he said." .

If so, then that is a felony..jail time.

........................... OH...This is a Christian College...of course.........

[not fooled]

15. And Betsy DeVoid says

"What's the big deal"?

I'm sure she's mystified by the bad publicity and negative reaction to what she probably sees as just a little prank.

(maybe)

[Stuart G]

16. This is a truly ugly story about this place "Wheaton College"

I would ask a question....Where did these goons get the idea to do this????

I would assume this had been done before...is that the answer???...I don't know.....an additional point:

this is a world wide story...In media in the UK and across the U.S.A. I suspect it will get more coverage as the story spreads about the charges. I think the Daily Herald.. published this..today..

[3catwoman3]

19. Both our sons attended Carthage College, which is in the same...

...athletic conference as Wheaton. Our sons played soccer together, and we had several opportunities to see the Wheaton players in action on the pitch. Wheaton is most definitely a deeply fundamental religious school. Their soccer players were a nasty bunch a little whiny bastards on the field - taking dives, embellishing, extremely aggressive yet always acting aggrieved if a foul was called against one of their players. Taking dives and embellishing seems much the same as lying to me - so much for that commandment about not bearing false witness. At one game, I remember shouting, "Are you all drama majors?"

Students who attend there have to sign a pledge acknowledging Jesus as their lord and savior. The mission statement from the school says that they believe Adam and Eve to be the parents of the entire human race. I would love to sit in on one of their biology classes and ask them to explain how that could be possible without Cain and Abel commit ing incest with their mother and any sisters born to Eve. Certainly doesn't make any sense from a strictly biological perspective.

"WE BELIEVE that God directly created Adam and Eve, the historical parents of the entire human race; and that they were created in His own image, distinct from all other living creatures, and in a state of original righteousness."

Lots more at this link - https://www.wheaton.edu/about-wheaton/statement-of-faith-and-educational-purpose/

IIRC, dancing was allowed starting in 1997.

[Stuart G]

21. I have a theory on why it took so long for Wheaton College to act...

The theory is that Wheaton was waiting for the young man that brought the charges...to drop the charges....I'll be willing to bet that Wheaton offered that young man, and his family, a whole lot of money to drop the charges...
.The school waited as long as it could..I'll bet the school got an extension on when the charges would be brought, thinking that Wheaton could buy off this scandal.

..I believe that the judicial system in the county where this happened, (DuPage County) went along with the request for the extension. ...That would explain why charges were brought..17 months after the incident..

It got to the last possible moment,... and the young man did not withdraw the charges...then action was taken...all along the school thought charges would be dropped by the accuser...

That is why minor action was taken, and the players were allowed to play..The good Christian School thought it could buy the accuser..with enough money........................now that is an opinion...I haven't got a clue

and as Sargent Shultz said, "I don't know nothing"

[mercuryblues]

22. hmm

They have to sign a pledge for no pre marital sex. Yet the punishment for attempted rape and beating a person is having to do community service and write a report. Seems to me these Evangelicals are ok with men beating and raping other men, just can't have consensual sex.

[Blue_Tires]

23. Sick shit...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-football-hazing-met-20170918-story.html

[jmowreader]

25. Here's the sickest part of the whole thing

This kid's dorm was the location of a "root beer kegger" (which makes no sense at all; if you're going to run an alcohol-free campus where students are required to live clean lives, why adopt the name of an illegal beer party for your event? Call it a root beer social like BJU and PCC do.) that was going on while the student was being kidnapped.

You are going to tell me you had a whole floor full of people getting high on soda pop and Jesus and not a damn one of them noticed that five people had broken into a student's room right in front of them, taped him up, stuck a pillowcase over his head, and carried him out of the building while he was screaming his head off?

A hell of a lot more than five people need to be expelled from that college. EVERY person who was at that party and failed to help the student needs to be removed.