PHILADELPHIA -- A prosecutor investigating allegations that high school football players from New York sexually assaulted teammates during a hazing ritual said Monday that he has asked a grand jury to begin issuing subpoenas to reluctant witnesses.
Wayne County District Attorney Mark R. Zimmer said the subpoenas will help state police investigating whether members of the Mepham High School football team in Bellmore, N.Y., sodomized younger players with a broomstick, pine cones and golf balls during a five- day trip to the Camp Wayne for Girls in Preston Park, Pa. In a statement, Zimmer called the allegations "disgusting and horrific."
He added that the investigation had been slowed by the reluctance of school district administrators, coaches and students to cooperate with the Pennsylvania State Police. School officials, he said, have asked to be served with subpoenas before they release written statements gathered from witnesses during the district's internal inquiry. Zimmer said the grand jury has already issued several subpoenas, which will be served shortly in New York.
Zimmer said students who witnessed or had knowledge of the alleged assault have generally been afraid to come forward. He asked anyone with knowledge of the alleged attacks to cooperate with police.
"Do not let a bunch of high school bullies intimidate you into letting extremely serious crimes go unpunished," he said. Sixty players and five coaches with the team attended the camp last month. Officials said the coaches slept in a different cabin from students and were unaware of any problems until a parent complained.
Mepham High suspended three players from school following the allegations. The Bellmore- Merrick school district canceled the team's entire season Wednesday, citing evidence that "a significant majority" of the team's players violated the district's code of conduct.
Bellmore-Merrick Superintendent of Schools Thomas Caramore said in a written statement that the district is committed to assisting police in the probe, but is barred by federal law from releasing information about students without a subpoena or the consent of their parents. "We do not understand why the Pennsylvania district attorney's office has waited until now to serve a subpoena," Caramore wrote. Investigators and school district officials have declined to release the names of the students who were suspended, or who were allegedly assaulted. Preston Park is about 125 miles north of Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA -- A prosecutor investigating allegations that high school football players from New York sexually assaulted teammates during a hazing ritual said Monday that he has asked a grand jury to begin issuing subpoenas to reluctant witnesses. 
