This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Floored, stunned, shocked - words some Utah high school football coaches used after learning that three East High sophomore players allegedly were involved in a series of apparent hazing incidents.
The three 15-year-olds were kicked off the sophomore team and were charged Sept. 19 with forcible sodomy, attempted forcible sodomy and sexual abuse, all first-degree felonies.
"It is very unfortunate," said Skyline coach Roger DuPaix, in his 21st season as a varsity coach in Utah. "I don't think it was typical [hazing] at all. They didn't cut their hair off or smear Vaseline on them. Any kind of hazing is very inappropriate. It's disturbing to hear what happened."
Information filed with the charges in 3rd District Juvenile Court describe three incidents involving different victims, from late August through mid-September.
According to witness statements, each incident involved two players touching their genitals and buttocks to the faces and heads of a victim.
East coach Aaron Whitehead said he notified police and suspended the three 15-year-olds after learning of the incidents. The players were kicked off the team after they were formally charged.
"My heart went out to the victims in the worst way," said Whitehead, who noted that all three victims are now back playing football.
Whitehead, highly respected among his peers, has agonized over the incidents since he first heard about them. DuPaix was Whitehead's football coach at Skyline, and he feels a tremendous amount of empathy for his former player, the East coaching staff and the three victims.
"I know their principles and what they stand for," DuPaix said of Whitehead and his staff. "They have the highest standards of conduct. As coaches, you instruct your players on how to be a good example to your teammates and to your community. For this to happen, I know they're just devastated."
Coaches agree that there is no one single method to prevent hazing at all athletic programs. Whitehead took a precaution in having all of his players sign a code of ethics agreement before they started practicing with the team in the summer.
Highland coach Brody Benson said he doesn't have a formal code of ethics, but he expects his players to understand hazing in unacceptable.
"I was floored," Benson said. "How do kids do that and think number one, it's OK, and number two, that nothing was going to happen to them when they were done doing it? Maybe there was a little stupidity involved in thinking it was no big deal."