Three students at Manheim Central High School in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are facing criminal charges in a football locker room hazing case that prosecutors say had sexual and racial elements. A teacher is charged with failing to report the abuse.
Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams announced the charges on October 9. Two juvenile defendants allegedly required Black students to pay to enter the team's locker room, which Adams called a "Black tax," LNP | LancasterOnline reported. The price kept going up, PennLive reported.
When one student refused to pay, the juveniles allegedly wrapped him in an extension cord and hit him with elastic exercise bands. The 16-year-old told administrators he was hit at least three times a week for a month, according to LNP | LancasterOnline.
All three defendants are accused of holding the same 16-year-old down in a locker room bathroom stall, spraying him with an aerosol, and rubbing their genitals on him. The hazing was called the "gas chamber," PennLive reported. Prosecutors said the conduct happened in a locker room used only by the football team, during school hours.
The two juveniles, whose names have not been released, are each charged with stalking, simple assault, hazing, false imprisonment, theft by extortion, indecent exposure, ethnic intimidation, and conspiracy. Their cases are in juvenile court.
Nathan Haldeman, who was 18 at the time and graduated in May, is charged as an adult with two counts each of stalking and indecent exposure and one count each of false imprisonment and conspiracy. He is not charged with ethnic intimidation. His attorney declined to comment, LNP | LancasterOnline reported.
Jared Shearer, 35, a teacher, is charged with failing to properly report suspected child abuse, a second-degree misdemeanor. Two of the students told him in mid-April that several male students were exposing their genitals and placing their genitals on the victims, according to charging documents. He did not report it to ChildLine, the state's child abuse hotline, despite his training as a mandated reporter, prosecutors said. PennLive identified Shearer as the team's former defensive coordinator.
Principal Joshua Weitzel learned of the abuse in May and made a ChildLine report on May 14, LNP | LancasterOnline reported. A victim's parents told the principal about the sexual parts of the hazing that month, according to PennLive. Adams said the investigation into how the abuse was reported is ongoing.
"Sometimes, doing the hardest thing and the right thing are the same," Adams said.
The Manheim Central School District called the incidents "extremely disturbing" and said, "This kind of treatment is horrific and unacceptable." Students will get anti-hazing training, and all staff and coaches are taking the state's required training on their duties as mandated reporters, the district said.
On September 28, the school board unanimously approved charges against former head football coach Dave Hahn, citing "failure to protect students," which could lead to his firing as a physical education teacher. Hahn resigned as head coach in June and remains on unpaid leave. "My decision to resign as head football coach should not be interpreted as an admission that I participated in, witnessed, condoned or concealed student misconduct," Hahn said in an email to LNP | LancasterOnline. "I did none of those things." His attorney declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Manheim Central High School enrolled 896 students in the 2024-25 school year, 22 of them Black, or about 2.5%, according to federal data.
State Rep. Izzy Smith-Wade-El, who does not represent the area, said he was "furious but hardly surprised." "These Black students were failed horrifically," he said.
Preliminary hearings for Haldeman and Shearer are set for October 28.
Sources
LNP | LancasterOnline: Manheim Central locker room abuse case produces criminal charges, DA says
AL.com: High school football players allegedly forced to pay 'Black tax' to use locker room (citing PennLive)
PennLive: Central Pa. football players demanded teammates pay a 'Black tax' to enter locker room, DA says
Enrollment figures from allk12's analysis of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data, 2024-25.
