Categories
Hazing News

California case may go to trial

Excerpt and one-time link to the Bee for educational purposes: Two former Gustine High School football players may face trial for their roles in summer training camp hazing,Madera County District Attorney Ernest LiCalsi said.

Two others have been referred to Merced County Juvenile Court for sentencing, LiCalsi said.

The Gustine and Golden Valley unified school district boards recently denied a pair of sexual assault complaints related to the case, one seeking $3 million in damages. At least one freshman football player was assaulted by older players with an air pump and a used condom, a complaint states.

The four Gustine teens were kicked off the team and initially faced felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor assault counts. They were charged by Madera County authorities because the alleged incident occurred at Liberty High School, which is part of the Golden Valley district near Madera.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

Leave a Reply