A grand jury in Montgomery County has indicted four coaches and six players from Cheltenham High School after a months‑long probe into a pattern of hazing that disrupted the school’s football program. The allegations, which span August and September, have resulted in the cancellation of the team’s 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The Investigation Unfolds
The charges span a wide spectrum, from assault and unlawful restraint to perjury and tampering with evidence. District Attorney Kevin Steele disclosed that investigators initially thought the abuse was limited to a September 3 incident, only to uncover an earlier assault on August 15 that had been hidden from authorities.
Video footage captured by two of the students shows multiple players restraining a teammate and using a broomstick to poke at his legs and buttocks. According to the report, the September 3 incident followed a dispute in which a 15‑year‑old took equipment from another player’s locker, prompting the victim to be punched, kicked and stepped on with cleats, forcing him to curl up in pain.
Two of the accused, Isaiah Simpson and Josiah Peeler, now face adult charges that include conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and lying to law enforcement. Meanwhile, two other juveniles are charged with aggravated assault, hazing and unlawful restraint, and additional players have been charged with conspiracy to commit hazing, perjury and evidence tampering.
The coaching staff’s response deepened the scandal. After the victim reported the assault to volunteer coach Ralph Burnley, Burnley texted assistant coaches Darian McFadden and Benjamin Johnson and called head coach Terence Tolbert. The coaches instructed the student to keep the matter quiet, a directive echoed in a text from Burnley that read, “This has to be handled and kept quiet. It’s just like hazing. I’m telling you, if this gets out, they could put the whole team in jeopardy.” Another coach replied, “If this gets out, we are f—ed,” expressing fear that the season might be canceled.
When the mother of the victim learned of the assault on September 7, she took her son to urgent care, where doctors diagnosed a contusion to his penis. The first ChildLine call was placed on September 18, and on October 19 school administrators finally halted the football season. Burnley, McFadden, Johnson and Tolbert have each been charged with two counts of endangering child welfare and two counts of conspiring to endanger the welfare of children.
An external investigation commissioned by Cheltenham High School confirmed that a student‑on‑student assault occurred in the locker room on September 3 and that 19 other students witnessed the attack yet did nothing. The grand jury’s final report calls for new state legislation that would require teachers, coaches, school administrators and medical professionals to report hazing incidents, aiming to prevent similar failures in the future.