A total of five teens were charged with attempted aggravated rape in a football team hazing incident at Grundy County High School.
According to Grundy County Sheriff Clint Shrum, five teens sexually assaulted a high school freshman with the handle of a metal dust mop.
Sheriff Shrum said in a press conference on Thursday they’re department was notified of the possible "hazing incident" at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
"It's disturbing, but we want to be as transparent as we can be about it. We certainly do not take these things lightly," said Sheriff Shrum.
The alleged assault happened sometime between 5 and 6 a.m. during the football team's workout. The coach and school resource officer were notified of a possible video of the incident. The SRO then contacted the sheriff's office.
Investigators interviewed each student along with a parent and school principal. They initially believed seven students were involved, but narrowed it down to five. The group was made up of four juniors and one senior.
Sheriff Shrum said at some point during the workout one of the teens grabbed the dust mop and was tapping the victim in the back of the leg. The dust mop was then passed to another student.
At that point, the students were said to have been holding the victim on the ground with his arms pulled behind his back and shorts pulled down while one of the students used the dust mop to assault him and another recorded it on his phone.
In the recording, you can hear the victim shouting, "Stop. Stop."
"I've got a 16-year-old daughter that attends that school. It's very important to me that they're safe; so it disturbs me even as the Sheriff of Grundy County - that's where my daughter goes to school. So to think that those actions are taking place there is disturbing," said Sheriff Shrum.
The five students were set to appear in juvenile court on Monday October 16 at 10 a.m.
