By Arthur J. Abruzzo and Michael S. Carroll
On October 31, 2018, prior to one of their final afternoon practices of the season, four Damascus (Maryland) High School freshman Junior Varsity (JV) football players were held against their will, while five other teammates removed their pants and forcibly inserted a pole or broom handle into their anus in a hazing ritual known as “brooming.” This hazing ritual was a common way for sophomore players to threaten, intimidate, and control their freshman JV teammates and had existed for many years at Damascus High School, allegedly persisting due to a lack of supervision by coaches and administrators. Hazing behavior at this school was not always predatory in nature but could quickly escalate and turn into sexual assault and battery. The players most often attacked were the smaller, weaker players who were less likely to defend themselves. The school day at Damascus High School ends at 2:30 PM with football practice starting at 3:30 PM, resulting in an hour for JV players to do homework and get ready for practice. The JV coach responsible for monitoring the behavior of his players, who had an office in the locker room, was often not present for these duties, leaving an hour of unsupervised time. Additionally, since there was only one door into the locker room, it was very easy for one player to stand on guard and alert the perpetrators whenever a coach or administrator was coming into the locker room and prevent any of the freshman from leaving. Many of the freshman were so afraid of “brooming” that they refused to change clothes in the locker room.
While the “brooming” activity was known to have existed during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and even further back, it was not until the October 31, 2018 incident that the issue finally came to light. One of the players who had been assaulted in an earlier incident finally revealed the extent of the hazing to his mother and another mother. It was at that point that parents finally informed school officials of this abusive activity. Once the coaching staff was informed of the assaults they failed to immediately contact authorities, failed to investigate, failed to inform parents, and failed to take corrective measures to ensure the safety of the victims of the hazing.
Application of State Law
The state of Maryland, like many other states, contains state statutes in their code that apply to the issue of hazing and abuse. 2013 Maryland Code Family Law § 5-704 specifies “mandatory reporters” of child abuse and neglect and mandates that any person “who has reason to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, shall notify the local department or the appropriate law enforcement agency.” Additionally, if that person is acting as a staff member for a governmental institution, such as a school, that person “shall immediately notify and give all information . . . to the head of the institution or the designee of the head.” As such, any coach or administrator who was made aware of the hazing abuse was required by law to (a) notify law enforcement and (b) notify the school principal. This notification, including a written report, is mandated to take place within 48 hours of the suspected abuse. In addition, the state of Maryland also has a criminal anti-hazing statute. § 3-607 of the Maryland Criminal Code states the following:
(a) Prohibited. — A person may not recklessly or intentionally do an act or create a situation that subjects a student to the risk of serious bodily injury for the purpose of an initiation into a student organization of a school, college, or university.
(b) Penalty. — A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding $ 500 or both.
(c) Prohibited defense. — The implied or express consent of a student to hazing is not a defense under this section.
In this case, leaders at Damascus High did report the incident to law enforcement. However, they waited approximately 12 hours to do so. This was despite the fact that officials were discussing the incident via group text message on the day of the incident. Additionally, the day after the incident, and before notifying law enforcement, school officials pulled students from class to question them and take statements.
Prior Notification and Failure to Act
The coaching staff and school administration were allegedly aware that this type of hazing activity was going on at Damascus High School as well as several other high schools within the Montgomery County area. Four months prior to the October assaults, a memorandum came down from Montgomery County Public Schools to coaches and athletic directors that coaches must supervise students at all times before and after practices and games. By failing to heed this directive, a number of additional assaults occurred against the students they were charged with protecting.
Culture of Intimidation through Fear and Silence
Hazing within this school was allowed to continue due to a mentality of intimidation. The players getting attacked were ashamed and fearful that if they said anything to their parents, coaches, or school administration they might not be believed, and they also feared recrimination from their teammates. Those players that are not getting attacked oftentimes do not speak out or defend the weaker players for fear of getting the group to turn on them. All of the players had been warned that if they spoke out they would be attacked further. This cone of silence, perpetuated by fear, results in the hazing process continuing from year to year and reaches a point where this type of behavior becomes accepted practice. The sophomore players would talk about the “brooming” incidents amongst themselves even to the point of creating a Snapchat thread to discuss the incidents. Unfortunately, hazing often becomes cyclical, in which victims of hazing grow to later become perpetrators of it. In this case, one of the five players charged in the assault was once a victim of this type of assault. Surprisingly, and perhaps even more disappointing, JV parents would talk about these incidents at parties. Once the hazing incidents were being investigated by law enforcement, the players were told to not cooperate with the authorities.
Proud Football Tradition
Damascus High School sponsors many athletic teams at both the varsity and JV levels and proudly considered themselves the top football town in Maryland, having won 11 State Football Championships and at one time held one of the nation’s longest high school football winning streaks at 53 games. As long as the football team kept winning, many of the supervisory deficiencies of the coaching staff were overlooked, resulting in a culture of controlling the school. While many of the teachers complained to the football coaches about their failure to supervise football players from the end of the school day until the start of practice, the coaches ignored their concerns and allowed this type of mentality to continue.
Additionally, the football first mindset would often result in accepting football players with questionable backgrounds simply because he could help them win on the football field. One of these players was the alleged ringleader of the October 2018 brooming incident. This player had a long history of violence in the school and had assaulted a female student twice in middle school. The player had been expelled from another high school and was told to attend an alternative school before the school board intervened and allowed him to attend Damascus High School, despite his history of assault and sexual violence. While at Damascus, this player struck and injured a teacher, but the issue was handled without punishment and he was allowed to continue playing football. The player received over a dozen in-school suspensions and over 100 messages were sent to his mother about his behavior.
Lawsuits
After a law enforcement investigation, five sophomore players were arrested and charged with multiple counts of rape. Four of the students, all 15 year-olds, were initially going to be tried as adults, but upon further consideration were charged as juveniles, and public information on the disposition of their cases is not available.
Five months after the disposition of the juvenile cases, two nearly identical lawsuits were filed on behalf of the four victims in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The defendants named in the lawsuits include, the Montgomery County Board of Education, former Damascus Principal Casey Crouse, varsity head football coach Eric Wallach, Damascus Athletic Director Joe Doody, and head junior varsity coach Vincent Colbert. The court ruled that the four individuals could not be sued and dismissed them as individuals. The court also ruled that the Montgomery County Board of Education is still a defendant but its liability was capped at $400,000. The case is set to go to trial July 26, 2021.
Aftermath
In the aftermath of the hazing incident and subsequent investigation, a number of personnel changes were enacted. Principal Crouse and Athletic Director Doody were relieved of their positions, and head coaches Wallach and Colbert moved on to positions at other schools.
Arthur J. Abruzzo is a Ph.D student in Sport Management at Troy University specializing in research related to compliance, ethics and sportsmanship. He lives in Farmington Hills, MI.
Michael S. Carroll is an Associate Professor of Sport Management at Troy University specializing in research related to sport law and risk management in sport and recreation. He serves as Online Program Coordinator for Undergraduate, Graduate, and Doctoral Programs in Sport Management with Troy University. He lives in Orlando, FL.
