In VT, HS hazing = $2000 fine

[hoosier]

Spaulding students cited for hazing incident
September 16, 2002

By David Delcore

TIMES ARGUS STAFF

BARRE (VT) – Eight Spaulding High School students face fines of as much as $2,000 for allegedly spanking several freshmen with items ranging from a snow shovel to a hockey stick.

Police today confirmed the alleged hazing incidents, which were called to their attention by a concerned citizen who witnessed some of the incident late last month.

According to police, the adult caller witnessed a group of predominantly upperclassmen corralling younger students one at a time and striking them on the buttocks with what appeared to be paddles.

The report, which involved activity that occurred not far from Spaulding High School on the afternoon of Aug. 28, triggered a two-week investigation, police said. That investigation ended when police issued eight tickets for hazing and soliciting to hazing – both crimes under relatively new legislation.

The students, who received tickets including “waiver fees” ranging from $100 to $2,000, include, Joshua Langevin, Christopher Facini, Gemma Ross, Hilary Hirt, John Demarais, and Shawn Duprey, all 17, Caitlyn LaCroix, 16, and a 14-year-old male.

Police said several of the alleged victims were interviewed during the course of the investigation and a videotape corroborating their stories was seized from the home of one female upperclassman who was reportedly involved. Police claim students participating in what they have described as an “initiation ritual” created the videotape, which has since been shared with school officials.

Based on a combination of eyewitness reports, victim’s statements, and the videotape, police claim that freshmen were being stopped on their way home from school and “paddled” by the group of upperclassmen.

The paddling occurred on a secluded section of railroad tracks and a parking lot – both located behind a large Hill Street house located at the Ayers Street intersection, according to police.

The “weapons” used ranged from boards broken off of a bureau and a homemade paddle to a snow shovel and a hockey stick.

Police said some of the freshmen were told to place their hands on cars in the parking lot and then were hit in the buttocks with boards, while others were struck as they tried to walk away on the railroad tracks.

In one case, police said one upperclassman “swung his hockey stick like a baseball bat” – hitting a younger student on his buttocks and causing the hockey stick to snap. The victim of that alleged assault complained to police of pain that lasted “at least 24 hours” after the incident.

Police credited school officials for cooperating in the investigation and for their expressed desire to make the “school environment safe for all students.”

The alleged hazing incidents did not occur on school grounds, but on property nearby. However, state law allows the scool to tek disciplinary action in such cases.

Although he deferred discussion of any potential disciplinary action to Superintendent Dorothy Anderson, Spaulding Co-Principal Dennis Hill today reiterated the school’s stance on hazing.

“The administration believes strongly that every kid here (at Spaulding) has a right to feel safe,” he said, adding: “We take this matter very seriously.”

Some of the alleged victims and their parents expressed fear of retaliation as a result of their cooperation in the investigation, according to police, who said any reprisals would be prosecuted as obstruction of justice, which is a felony.